Class "^4 ■' I V . 

Book M "55 - 

Copyright^ - 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 



Beautiful Word Pictures 



THE 

Beautiful Word Pictures 

of the Epistle to the 

Ephesians 

OR, 

THE BUSY MAN'S COMMENTARY 
UPON THE BIBLE 



INTERPRETATIONS MADE ACCORDING TO 
TEE CONCEPTIONS OF THE WRITER IN 
TEE TIME OF WRITING, AND NOT AS 
TEESE CONCEPTIONS HAVE BEEN MOD- 
IFIED BY MORE MODERN THEORIES 



By W. A. HAYNES 



Address all communications to the 
BUSY MAN'S BIBLE COMPANY, CANEY, KANSAS 
19 11 



Copyright, 1911. 
W. A. HAYNES. 



©GU283278 



a fHg Sparlg Iblrraeb lro%r, 3. 1L (Efjasp, 
HJIjfl ©lyrouglj f *ara of ©nil att& $riaa- 
nn i§aa Saw Urctt 4lg Jaitfffal iFslkua- 
laborrr, anii Msliam-BvdStsxtr in tlf* (Carta? of 
tft* Gftrtst Ha ©Ijts lank Cmtinglg li&tntfrfl. 




PREFACE 



The following work upon the Epistle to the Ephe- 
sians represents a collection from the readings and 
searchings which cover a period of more than twenty 
years. Many quotations are given from others just as I 
have received them. Some have been changed ma- 
terially. Some quotations have been dropped, while 
their meaning has been put down in my own wording. 

One's mind being influenced by what he reads and 
hears, I may unconsciously have inserted statements 
herein which are the influence of others, and yet, I 
having thought them original. 

All that is claimed for this work is that the truth 
has been aimed at, regardless of creeds or * ' church re- 
lationships." It has been made plain and simple for 
the use of the busy man and woman who wish to 
study the Bible and have not the time to dig into so 
many different authorities for proofs and evidences. 

Helps, from whatever source they have come, have 
indeed been appreciated. 

The Author. 



INTRODUCTION 



Ephesus, as the metropolis of Asia, was the natural 
center of the apostolic ministry. In the Apocalypse it 
stands at the head of the list. Rev. 1 : 11. It was the 
key to the western provinces of Asia Minor. "A great 
door and effectual energes-in-working is opened here." 
1 Cor. 16 : 9. This city was the highway from Rome 
into Asia. Even Renan says, "The epistle to the 
Ephesians is perhaps the one of which there are most 
early quotations, as the composition of the Apostle to 
the Gentiles." It is recognized by Clement. Irenaeus 
and Tertullian. Polycarp quotes the twenty-sixth 
verse of chapter four. This epistle is of very close kin 
to that of the Colossians. Both were carried by the 
same messenger. Eph. 6 : 21, 22 ; Col. 4 : 7, 8. They are 
twin sisters, yet each one holds its own marked indi- 
viduality. 

It is said that seventy-eight verses out of one hun- 
dred and fifty-five have the same phrases. But there 
is much in this letter which has no parallel in that to 
the Colossians. The Old Testament is alluded to seven 
times here, while in Colossians there is but one. Here 
Paul is the Builder; there he is the Soldier. 

This is the most wonderful of all the epistles of 
Paul. Each word seems to shine out into the darkness 
of the human sky, and leaves a shining trail. 

This epistle was written when Paul was a prisoner. 
Chap. 3:1, 4:1; 6:20, This was his first Roman 



captivity, beginning A. D. 61 and lasting for two years. 

Onesimus was associated with Tychicus, the bearer 
of this letter. In the epistle to Philemon, sent by 
Onesinms, Paul prays for a lodging, verse 22, against 
his early arrival v/hich he then confidently expected. 
Hence this epistle must be placed, as to date, late in 
the captivity. Not earlier than 63. 

To the Thessalonians Paul presents Christ as the 
Judge; to the Corinthians as the Head of the Church 
and its Ruler; to the Galatians as the One who is the 
breaker of all bondages; to the Romans as the Re- 
deemer from sin and death; and in this epistle as the 
Eternal, Incarnate "Word, the Redeemer of the uni- 
verse, the sole source of life to the world. 



Beautiful Word Pictures 



' CHAPTER I. 

Verse 1. — For Paul, see introduction to the Roman 
letter. Apostle — apostolos — one sent. This title was 
applied to those ministers who were specially chosen 
and "sent out" into new territories, whose business it 
was to prepare the way for others to follow. An 
apostle planted the Word in new fields, and others who 
followed were said to water the planting. 1 Cor. 3 : 6. 
Of the "twelve" apostles none were selected except 
those who had a knowledge, a personal knowledge, of 
the life of the Christ from the baptism of John until the 
ascension. Acts 1 : 21, 22. Matthias was chosen to take 
the place of Judas, thus making complete the twelve. 
James, the brother of John, was killed by Herod in the 
year 44. Acts 12 : 1-2. Before any one of the other 
apostles died, Paul and Barnabas were chosen to the 
office of apostles, but were not of the twelve. Acts 
13 : 1-3. Apaphroditus was an apostle. Phil 2 : 25. 
The word "messenger" here is from the same word 
translated "apostle" in our text. Titus is also num- 
bered with the apostles. 2 Cor. 8:23. By this it is 



12 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



readily seen that there were more than twelve apostles 
at one time. 

Saint — hagios — holy one, and is applied to all who 
are truly Christ's. This is the title of all Christians on 
earth, but not of those in heaven. This title does not 
attribute any personal merit to man. It implies that 
God has made them His own. They are holy because 
they belong to God. The temple was holy, not because 
of its grandeur and its gold, but because it was the 
1 ' House of God." The altars were holy because they 
were erected for the worship of the true God. The 
sacrifices were holy, not because they were better than 
all others of the flock, but because they were offered to 
God. The Sabbath was holy because it was consecrated 
to the service of God. The better part always gives 
the name. Man is animal, but his higher and better 
nature gives him the title of Man instead of mere 
animal. Gold, though with some dross, is called gold. 
Cornfields have some weeds, yet we call them cornfields. 
We have imperfections, yet the grace of God within the 
spirit is so much better and stronger than the world, 
the better part gives the name saint, or Christian. 

Ephesus was the third capital and starting-point of 
the Christian religion. At Jerusalem it was born from 
Judaism. At Antioch it sprang from the Gentiles. 
Ephesus was to witness the final union of all the ele- 
ments of Christianity in the work of John the apostle 
of love. It was the celebrated city of Ionia, in Asia 
Minor, about forty miles south of Smyrna. It lay one 
mile from the sea "in the fair Asian meadow, where 
many water fowl deported amid the windings of the 
Cayster." Its port was ever thronged with vessels 
from every part of the civilized world. Its population 
was immense. It was so wicked that one of its own 



OE TBE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 



IS 



philosophers declared that 1 1 the whole Ephesian popula- 
tion deserved to be throttled man by man. It had all 
that was beautiful in art, and that was profound in 
learning. But that which attributed to its fame more 
than anything else was the Temple of Diana. The 
lower platform of this temple was 418 feet by 239 
feet. It had 120 columns sixty feet high. This was 
the seat of the worship of the Asiatic Nature Goddess. 
Pliny styles this city the "ornament of Asia." The 
temple of Ephesus was, next to the temple of Artemis, 
its chief glory. It held 25.000 people, and was con- 
structed chiefly for gladiatorial combats with wild 
beasts. Paul had occasion to know this theatre 1 
Cor. 15:32. 

Faithful — pistos- — steady, with" steadfastness. Faith, 
faithful, faithfully, and faithfulness are from the same 
root. In Rom. 1 : 17, is found an expression that will 
illustrate this. "From faith to faith." This can not 
mean from one degree of grace to another degree, as so 
often declared. It says "from faith to faith." From 
the one faith to another faith. "To all that believe." 
Man is saved when he becomes faithful to receive what 
God is faithful to give. The gospel is the power of 
God to salvation from the faithfulness of God who 
gives to the faithfulness of the man who receives. Note 
comment on Luke 17:6. The "faith of the mustard 
seed." 

Christ Jesus — anointed Saviour. The one anointed 
of God to save man. 

Verse 2. — This is a kind of salutation that is often 
used by primitive writers. 

Grace — charis — graciousness, favor. 

Peace — eirene — unity, concord. 

From God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 



14 BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 

This was a fatal blow at ancient Unitarianism. It is 
just as effective at this day. 

What a different atmosphere is here found to that 
in the Galatian letter. There it is a battlefield, here 
it is a heart meditation. There it is the strife of con- 
troversy, here it is the stillness around the temple altar. 
Earthly tumult here dies away and heaven's door 
opens towards the splendor of perfect love and devo- 
tion to God's power and the sacredness of the human 
soul. "We are transported from the selfish and human 
side of life to that of the heavenly and the Divine. 
Here Paul finds a living principle and seeks its ulti- 
mate basis. Tf the gospel is to be the salvation of 
humankind, it must supply that principle of life and 
oneness that will bind together and harmonize all that 
moves in the spiritual realm of truth. This gospel 
must touch every phase of human life and enter into 
the sanctuary of the common feelings of each indi- 
vidual if it would be a universal comfort. 

Verse 3. — Blessed — eulogetos — well spoken of. 
Blessed as used in the Beatitudes in Matt. 5 : 3-11, is 
mdkarios, meaning happy. 

God — theos — an object of worship. 

Father — pater— an ancestor. 

Lord — kurios — a master. 

Lord Jesus Christ — see Verse 1. 

Hath blessed us — spoken well of us. 

Spiritual — pneumatikos — given by, or partakers of 
the nature of the Spirit. 

Blessing — eulogia — good speech or utterance. 

Heavenly places — ta epourania — the heavenlies, or 
from on high. This is a term used to distinguish the 
glories of salvation from those temporal blessings 
granted to the physical. See comment on Heb. 12:23. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 



15 



"Who hath blessed us, in every blessing of the Spirit, 
in the heavenly places, in Christ." Not in the earthly 
paths of passing vanities, but in the Spirit in heavenly 
places with Christ the soul finds its own rest. Three 
times in the same verse does Paul use one word. He 
who created man in purity alone can deliver him since 
his fall into sin. He would bless men with all spir- 
itual blessings in heavenly things. There are many 
earthly or temporal blessings, as the world sees them, 
with which the pure in heart are not always blessed. 
May we never grumble. God knows best. All bless- 
ings from on high are always for our good. He gives 
all of them. It is not so with the things of earth. 

Blessings is singular in the original. It means not 
so much a diversity of blessings, but the totality of 
such blessing. 

Verse 4. — According — kathos — like as. 

Chosen — eJclego — to lay out. 

Foundation — hatabole — a laying down, a casting 
down. 

Holy — hagios — separate, set apart. Same with 
"saint" in Verse 1. 

Without Blame — amdmos — blameless, not guilty. 

Love — agape — devoted to. The word used by Jesus 
in His question to Peter. John 21: 15-17. This love is ' 
the delighted perception of the excellence of things, or 
rather of person or persons. The word which Peter 
used each time in answer to the question of Christ in 
John 21, is phileo — to be a friend. See comment 
on John. 

In Him. This provision is as eternal as the Christ. 
The universe of spiritual being, whether of heaven or 
of earth was conceived and fashioned in Christ. "The 
creation itself is lifting its head and is looking out for 



15 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



the revelation of the sons of God." Rom. 8:19. (See 
comment on Romans) when they shall be presented 
faultless before the presence of His glory with exceed- 
ing joy. Jude 24. But "in Christ" has its exclusive 
as well as its inclusive character. To be in Him must 
be to voluntarily live to the praise of His glory and 
His grace. We are the objects of His grace, He is the 
object of our praise. The ages are to be enlightened 
through the knowledge of the Christ. What He sees 
for all men, all men must see through Him. The true 
human spirit will accept nothing for a basis of life 
that is less' real and positive than itself. A living God 
must be the moving center of all things to the enlight- 
ened spirit. 

If any number of foolish men should think it fit to 
put out their own eyes, to prevent them from feeling" 
the effect of light, as Democritus, the ancient philos- 
opher, is said to have done, it will form no argument 
against other men seeing the Christ and appreciating 
His presence. The chief est enjoyments cf this world 
are not sufficient to satisfy the human soul. The most 
exquisite and particular pleasure only satisfies during 
the excitement of the moment. The spirit possesses an 
unbounded desire for happiness which no present en- 
joyment may gratify. Whether among the multitudes 
or in the haunts of solitude man is unsatisfied with 
the present. Men may only feast upon the hope that 
some time this longing will be satisfied. The desire of 
immortality is common and natural to all men. Why 
should men be anxious about their reputation, and to 
perpetuate their fame, after they have descended into 
the grave, if there is no sentiment of immortality? An- 
nihilation can not be an object of desire to any being 
with sense. Such can only desire something which is 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 17 

real. When wicked men, conscious of their awful guilt 
before God, express a desire for annihilation, it is not 
that this is what they really desire, but they would 
rather have that which they consider the lesser of two 
great evils, punishment for their sins in an eternal 
world or a cessation of their wretched existence. But 
"in Christ" men see life and immortality illustrated, 
2 Tim. 1 : 10, and are heroic against evils under the 
influence of unseen and everlasting things. They have 
faced "cruel mockings, scourgings, bonds and impris- 
onments;" they have ascended to a throne with Christ 
from the cruel rack. From the serpent's head they have 
leaped into glory. They have sung the songs of tri- 
umph in the raging flames. They have traversed land 
and sea to turn benighted men into the path that leads 
to eternal life. No sacrifice is too great. They "de- 
sire a better country," and they know that death will 
introduce them to "an exceeding great and an eternal 
weight of glory." It is impossible for men to cease 
wishing for something better than they have as yet 
possessed. God is no deceiver that He would encourage 
hopes and desires that can not be satisfied, hence we 
know He will fulfill His own laws towards every species 
of sensitive existence. Virtue must have its happiness 
in an infinite duration. The soul "in Christ" standing 
upon the eminence of Truth and Love contemplates a 
boundless prospect, the which he may never hope to 
gain while chained to this moving and disappointing 
sphere. It seems that the true man was not born to 
enjoy life here, but to deliver it down to others, then 
in that eternal realm he may receive the improvements 
that make for that immense perfection of all spiritual 
excellence. It must be pleasing to God Himself to see 
His creation ever growing more beautiful and eternally 
a 



IS 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



drawing nearer to him by greater degrees of resem- 
blance. The very fact of the now disordered state of 
the moral and social world in contrast with the beau- 
tiful harmonious system of the material universe, forms 
a very strong presumption of the existence of another 
state wherein these moral evils will be righted. 

Verse 5. — Predestinated — proorizo — to mark off be- 
forehand. 

Adoption of children — huiothesia — to place as sons. 
Good pleasure — eudohia — good thought. 
His will — thelema — His wish. 

Before God laid the foundation of the earth, and 
before man was created, God laid out the path He in- 
tended man to follow when he should be created. Be- 
fore man was created it was intended that he should be 
holy and walk in love when he should come into posses- 
sion of the earth. The reader should note very carefully 
the distinction between the two predestinations as found 
in verses 4 and 5. Before man was formed God had 
' 1 marked out" a plain path of purity for him to travel. 
This was the first foreordination. After man's trans- 
gression, God's eye followed him through all the mazes 
of his apostasy. His love desired man's restoration.' 
Long before the Saviour was presented to deliver man 
from sin, God had " marked out" a way in which man 
could, through Christ, be restored to a blessed com- 
munion with Himself. Christ's coming revealed the 
original ground of man's being as that existing in 
God. To carry man out of sin with its awful conse- 
quences He must of necessity carry him back to God's 
ideal of a true man, as was God's "thought" before 
man was created. Man had lost sight of his God and 
of his brethren. To find them he must return to the 
Father's house. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 



19 



It is not " non-election, " but man's continuing in 
sin, that leads to eternal ruin. We have fallen into 
time, but we are for eternity. Our only true home is 
with God amid the firstborn eternal glories. In every 
election in God's thought He elects us unto the means 
as well as unto the end. As in Acts 27 : 31, none 
could come to land except they abode in the ship, so 
none may now enter heaven except they abide in the 
truth. If a man is elected to be saved from shipwreck, 
it is because he is elected to tighten the ropes, hoist 
the sails, or to stand by the rudder. The potter will 
make the best out of the clay that may be made, but 
if it should mar in his hand when he would fashion a 
beautiful vessel he will then make of it a coarser ves- 
sel as it is fit. 

The Jew had no reason to complain that Christ had 
accepted the Gentiles without obedience to the Jewish 
laws, because the promise of salvation was before the 
law. In the "new creation" God must according to 
His purpose bestow upon all of His creatures the bless- 
ings of His power and love, as He did upon all in the 
"first creation." 

Verse 6. — Praise — epainos — commendation. Same 
with ' ' commend ' ' in Luke 16 : 8. 

Glory — doxa — knowledge, character, reputation, 
credit, honor. 

Grace — same with Verse 2. 

Accepted — charitoo — to make gracious, acceptable. 

Beloved — agapad — to love dearly. 

"When God Jehovah said, "Let us make man," He 
was speaking to our Lord and His Christ. It was 
through this Christ that this world was formed. John 
1:3. Through Him man was created and became, or was 
placed as, a son. This does not indicate that "God 



20 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



beforehand planned man's fall and restoration through 
Christ. ' ' Man was to be placed as a sen, because he 
was created in God's image. "Accepted" would have 
been more properly translated ' ' acceptable. ' ' It was be- 
cause God created man unto the position of sonship, 
that He through the same Christ brings man again 
from his alien state to that cf a son. It is because that 
through Christ man was created, that man is now made 
acceptable unto God through Christ in the restoration. 

A and B are fast friends. C is a special friend of 
B 's. B introduces C to A as "my dear friend." 
Because cf A's love for B he accepts B's friend as 
his own. Christ, the beloved, or "Son of God's love," 
is a very dear friend of God's and also a dear friend 
of man's. He introduces us to the Father, and the 
Father accepts us through His love for the Son who 
claims us as His friends. In Col. 1 : 13, He is again 
called "the Son of God's love." It is translated "dear 
Son." The end for which God created man must be 
higher than man himself; that end is Christ. Rom. 
10:4. This word rendered "accepted" is found but 
once more in the New Testament. Mary was highly 
"favored." Luke 1:28. One must not think to be 
accepted for Christ, or through Christ, while out of 
Christ. Rom. 8:1. To have the feet planted upon 
"the foundation cf God which standeth sure," is "to 
depart from iniquity." 2 Tim. 2:19. 

Plutarch says, when Themistocles in the hour of his 
exile wished to be reconciled to Admetus, king of the 
Molossians whom he had offended, he took the king's 
son in his arms and bowed before the gods. The plea 
was successful. But it was the only one which was. 
So must we come if we would approach the Majesty on 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIAXS. 21 



Iligh. Let us take hold of the King's Son. "We Trill 
"be accepted through Him." 

Verse 7. — Redemption — apolutrdsis — a loosing away. 

Forgiveness — aphesis — a sending away, a letting go. 

Sins — paraptoma — fall, offense, trespass. In chap- 
ter 2:1, it is hamartia — error, missing the mark. 

Riches — ploutos — wealth, treasures. 

Grace — Same with Verse 2. 

It is through the price of redemption paid, the 
blood of Christ, that sinful men are released from the 
bondage of Satan, and have their sins forgiven or "sent 
away" from them through faith in the heavenly sacri- 
fice. "We have found redemption in the pardon of 
our sins." — Twentieth Century New Testament. Re- 
demption is a term which comprehends our complete 
emancipation from sin with all of its consequences. 
Forgiveness cf sins refers to actual transgressions. 
Through the forgiveness cf sins we shall eventually 
overcome death and regain eternal life. Forgiveness in 
full comes now. Redemption in its fullness not until 
the resurrection. Rom. 8 : 23. 

His death to sin is death to sin for all who are 
one with Him. Forgiveness is much more than pardon. 
Pardon is not a New Testament word. It never occurs 
there. It is found only in the Old Testament. Pardon 
is cnly the remitting the punishments due to the re- 
sults of sins committed. Forgiveness goes deeper. It 
is an act cf the heart, not of the law, and which cancels 
both the penalty and the consciousness of the sin itself. 

Verse 8. — Abounded — preisseuo — to be over and 
above. 

Wisdom — sopliia — skill. 

Prudence — phrouesis — thoughtfulness, good sense. 
Christ is so rich in grace that He causes all faith- 



22 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



ful souls to abound through His skillfulness against 
Satan. His thoughtfulness for their welfare, and His 
good sense in the government of His church, place 
them above the petty things of earthly trifles that so 
annoy those unacquainted with Christ's love and ten- 
derness. Few people seem to think that good sense 
has anything to do with the forgiveness of sins or a 
Christian life. 

The uses of all other graces are based upon this 
one. The lack of good sense destroys all others. The 
most beautiful flower that adorns the soul tree is the 
grace of good sense. This is the first grace that God 
associates with the forgiveness of sins and the redemp- 
tion of the human soul. Grace is not intended merely 
for the cleansing of the soul, but is first manifested in 
the enlightening of the mind. It is true that knowl- 
edge without love amounts to nothing, but it is just 
as true regarding love without knowledge. Grace and 
" riches of grace" reveal God's love to sinful men. 

Verse 9. — Mystery — musterion — that which is known 
only to the initiated. 

"Will — Same with Yerse 1. 

Good pleasure — Same with Yerse 5. 

Purposed — protithemi — propose. 

The soul that has been initiated into the kingdom 
of God can alone comprehend the goodness of Christ 
towards all of His brethren. This very secret He pro- 
posed from the first to have hidden within Himself. 
Those who enter here are made partakers of the same 
mind with Christ. Phil. 2 : 5. 

Verse 10. — Dispensation — oikonomia — the arrange- 
ment of a house, or the management of a family. 

Fullness of times — kairos — a fixed time or season. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANP 23 

Gather together — anakephalaioomai — to make up 
under one head. 

Heaven — ouranos — sky, that above the earth. 
Earth — ge — the land. 

The flood could not wash away sin, nor could it 
make the heart of man subject to God's will. Fire 
and brimstone could not consume it. The law could 
do no more than restrain it for a time; but Christ 
came to gather the souls of men into His own heart. 
Here they are made partakers of His own nature and 
good thought. He gave men to realize that by their 
being brought under the citizenship of heaven, Phil. 
3 : 20, they were also under the same law that was in 
force in heaven. The heart or fountain head is 
cleansed and redeemed and through grace He has 
no trouble in managing His family that is one in 
heaven and earth. Chap. 3 : 15. The love of God now 
constrains — sunecho — holds together, 2 Cor. 5:14. 
Through love he manages His family and keeps them 
together "in Him." The opening of the gospel gathers 
us into one faith. It unites us to Christ and makes 
us one with Him. It unites us with God because we 
are one with the Son. By being gathered to Christ 
we are gathered to the whole body of Christ under the 
one Head. Whatever finds exercise in Him must of 
necessity find exercise with all that are one "with 
Him." There is but one gospel. That gospel is for 
all. As all rills make for the sea, so all truths make 
for Christ and unity. The spokes of a hub near each 
other as they near the hub. So is it with men, as they 
draw near to Christ, the center, do they draw near 
to each other. The further they go out from the 
center the more do they run out one from the other. 
In one body there can be no mutual jealousies. No 



24 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



member ever avenges itself . against another member 
of the same body. This word here translated "gather 
together, ' ' is found once again. Rom. 13 : 9. It is 
there rendered "briefly comprehended." Its signifi- 
cance is plain. All commandments are summed up, 
reduced to a head, gathered together in these two 
great commands: "Love God; Love man." To sum 
all things up in Christ is the destiny of the universe. 
Perfection will come. 

Verse 11. — In whom also — in the Christ. 

Obtained inheritance — klerod — to choose by lot. 

Predestinated — same with Verse 5. 

Counsel — boule — purpose, will. Same with Acts 
13 : 36. 

"Will — same with Verse 1. 

According to this, the inheritance the Christian is 
predestinated to receive, is to be obtained by his own 
choice, and not by a foreordained law of compulsion. 
The plan that was predestinated or "laid out," was 
that man should use the free will given him, and should 
choose the inheritance of righteousness. Could any- 
thing be wiser? 

Whatever God does He does with counsel. Man 
was created, Gen. 1 : 26, and all things made by His 
counsel with the Son. John 1:3. The counsel of 
peace is between them, Zech. 6 : 13, as is also the coun- 
sel of war. Matt. 28 : 53. Rash and self-willed men 
should take note of this example when they would do 
things unadvisedly. A king decrees beforehand, or 
foreordains the law or rule by which his subjects shall 
live and be governed, but all subjects do not obey 
these laws. So it is with the laws of God with rela- 
tion to the government cf men. 

Should the reader ask, "Is the will of man free xo 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIAXS. 



25 



receive or reject the Christ, so that it can as easily 
do the first as the latter? " Unhesitatingly, we answer, 
no. Sin has produced such a bias to that which is 
evil that without that influence given by the Spirit 
and His Truth, man would in every case reject Him. 
If you will note the difference between "free agency" 
and "free will," you will readily see truth here. A 
free agent really means one who is able to act either 
the one way or the other according to the dictates of 
the "will." That is, if a man "wills" to do the 
right he has the power to do it, or can acquire the 
needed help to do it. It is for him. "Free will" 
means the ability of the will itself to will good or 
bad. No soul in sin possesses a will that turns as 
readily to right as to wrong. The will that could 
choose life and holiness without the Divine influence 
would not need that influence. The first law of mo- 
tion is that when an object gets a start in any direc- 
tion it can not stop, or deviate from that direct course 
without the aid of some impressed force. When man 
starts downward in sin, he can not turn about nor 
change his course without some impressed force to 
assist him. That impressed force is the gospel, Rom. 
1:13-17, through the Spirit's power, John 16:8-11. 
A man can act according to his will, but the will must 
be changed before he can act for the right as God 
would will it. A man with a will according to the 
Christ, 1 Cor. 2:16; Phil. 2:5, is a type after God's 
own heart. If he is not conformed to this, he is 
turning away from the destiny God intended him for. 

Verse 12. — Praise, and glory — same with Verse 6. 

First trusted — proelpizo — to hope first, or before 
others. The first to rest their hope in Christ. These 
commended His glory. They testified to others that 



26 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



it was only through Christ that any great and lasting 
scheme was to be perfected. See Verse 11. Also Isa. 
9 : 6. All who honor the Christ are but honoring 
God's own perfect plan, and commending the wisdom 
of God's Counsellor. In the Songs of Solomon the 
Church so sings of the glory and beauty of Christ that 
she awakens others. Through the Jews the nations 
were to hear. Acts 13 : 46, 47. Would a man who was 
drowning and tossed upon the fury of the waves re- 
fuse a life-line thrown to him, and grumble that he 
knew not whether the man at the other end of the 
line wished really to save him or not? Never. Then 
why play the fool with the promises of God because 
of the evil doctrine of foreordination as taught by 
men? 

Verse 13. — Ye also — Gentiles, all nations. 
The word ' 1 trusted" is supplied here from 
Verse 12. 

Heard — akouo — to give ear, to hearken. Note this 
in connection with the thought of impressed force in 
Verse 11. 

Word — logos — reason, vehicle of reason, interpreter 
of thought. 

Word of truth — aletheia — the whole truth, that 
which is opposed to a lie or the mere appearance. 

Gospel — euaggelion — good news, good tidings. But 
the word ' ' gospel ' ' means ' 1 good spell. ' ' See Luke 4 : 18. 

Salvation — soteria — safety, soundness. Salvation as 
used here means not only the deliverance from evil 
but a preserving from that evil when once delivered. 
See Luke 2 : 30. 

Believed — pisteuo — to adhere to, to rely on. In 
Luke 1 : 1, it is from plerophored — to bear, to carry fully. 
That which we carry with full assurance. 1 1 Believers" 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 27 

in 1 Tim. 4: 12, is the same with "faithful" in Verse 1 
of this chapter. 

Sealed — sphragizo — to impress, to shut up, to mark. 

Spirit of promise — epaggelia — assurance. As a 
term used at law it meant "information." 

After the sinner becomes thoroughly satisfied that 
he within himself is an entire failure, and turns to 
Christ for something substantial upon which he may 
rely, the Father sets upon him the impress or seal of 
the promised Spirit, or the Spirit of assurance and 
information. See John 14 : 26 ; 16 : 13. The ground 
can not be quickened with fruits until it first receive 
the seed and the dews from heaven. The soul must be 
quickened by taking in the seed, the gospel, and 
watered by the information or assurance given by the 
Spirit, the Word heals, Ps. 107:20. The medicine 
must be taken before it can heal. This seed is im- 
mortal, 1 Peter 1:23. When the Word of God is 
heard and obeyed it brings the quickening Spirit, 
Acts 5 : 32. For this reason the ministry of the gospel 
is called the ministration of the Spirit. A seal some- 
times makes secret the thing sealed. Believers are 
unknown to the world, 1 John 3:1. 

The seal of the Sovereign is the highest guarantee 
that can be given for the validity of any right or 
title. The breaking of this seal brings down the 
strong penalty of the law upon the offender. There- 
fore grieve not the Spirit's seal. Chap. 4:30. Note 
again the first words of this verse, "In whom." It 
is in Christ we are sealed. So far as the sealing re- 
lates to Christ may it be ours. 

"Be working not for the food which perishes, but 
for the food which remains unto life age abiding, 
which the Son of Man to you will give; for the same 



28 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



the Father sealed (even) God." — Rotherham. Our 
sealing is in Him, hence it must be the same sealing. 
We are joint heirs. When the Spirit came upon the 
Christ it sealed Him as God's own in the special work 
of redemption. To us this sealing distinguishes the 
soul as God's own, and will thus remain until the seal 
be broken, or the Spirit be grieved and rejected in 
the leading capacity for which it was given. Jesus 
said this Spirit was with the disciples, but should be 
in them. John 14 : 17. It was to give power for the 
right. Acts 1:8. If even an angel should tell us that 
God loves us, and that Christ died for us, it could not 
give the assurance and satisfaction as does the internal 
witness and seal of the Spirit to the human spirit. This 
ness and seal of the Spirit to the human spirit. This 
is what Peter means when he says we have a more 
sure word of prophecy — prophetikos — prophetic, or 
proceeding from the prophets. Or we have more firm, 
the prophetic word than the voice of God Himself 
upon the Holy Mount. 2 Pet. 1 : 19. We have the 
Spirit within as a personal blessing. 

Verse 14. — Earnest — arrhabon — surety, pledge, fas- 
tening penny. 

Inheritance — same with Verse 11. 

Redemption — same with Verse 7. 

Purchased possession — peripoiesis — an acquiring, 
gaining possession, keeping safe. 

Praise of His glory — same with Verse 6. 

An earnest is more than a seal. It is an install- 
ment. It is a sample dish of the coming feast. It is 
that part cf the price which is paid when the desired 
possession is bargained for, to prove that the pur- 
chaser is in good faith and intends to pay the 
remainder at the promised time. The purchased posses- 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 29 

sion is Christ's people as they are finally and com- 
pletely redeemed. The Holy Spirit is the fastening 
penny or pledge of good faith to all the pure in heart. 
The inheritance will be a fuller possession of His 
glory. The pledge was the least amount that would 
be accepted. No one can be an heir to heaven until 
he has received the Holy Spirit's seal. Nothing less 
than this will distinguish him as one of God's chosen 
ones. This would be a good study for those who 
declare the seal of the Spirit is given subsequent to be- 
coming an heir of heaven. Those without the seal of 
the Spirit given through obedience have no evidence 
whatever that Christ has ever promised them an en- 
trance into the heavenly inheritance. For the obedient 
the inheritance has been purchased. It has been given, 
but it has not been reached. A long path of conflict 
lies between the payment of the price and the resi- 
dential possession. 

God's purchased possession, or His people secure 
in heaven, will be a 1 'peculiar treasure unto Him." 
Ex. 19 : 5. They will be a peculiar people, or people 
of possession. Deut. 7:6. Same with Mai. 3 : 17. "A 
peculiar treasure," instead of "jewels." A "people 
for God's own possession." 1 Peter 2:9. See com- 
ment on Peter. 

The shadow of the enemy, Death, has been lifted 
off of our spirits through 'Christ here, but it still 
remains upon our physical body as "the last enemy" 
to be destroyed. 1 Cor. 15 : 26. He is a usurper in 
God's heritage. 

But He "will ransom them from the power of the 
grave." Hosea 13:14. Then they will be truly His 
own peculiar possession. Then shall the ransomed of 
the Lord return and be at oneness with Him for whom 



30 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



they were created. Isa. 35 : 10. It was after the 
bars of the tomb were broken asunder and on the 
immortal side of the grave He breathed upon those 
He loved. John 20:22, 23. This very Spirit raised 
Him from the dead, and will unite all faithful ones 
in the work of saving lost humanity, and unite the re- 
deemed in the praise of His glory in the wonders of 
the eternal ages. They were with Him after His pas- 
sion, Acts 1:3, and He will be with them through 
their passion, and lead them into the courts of the 
everlasting house of God. Ps. 23 : 4-6. 

Verse 15. — Your faith — pistis — faithfulness, stead- 
fastness. Same root as " faithful" in Verse 1. 

Lose — same with Verse 4. 

Saints — same with Verse 1. 

Verse 16. — Cease — pauomai — to omit, to pause. 

Give thanks — eucharisteo — to thank, to be thankful. 

Making mention — mneia — to name, to make constant 
mention of. 

Prayers — proseuche — a pouring out. See Lu. 6 :12. 

Verse 17. — God, Lord Jesus Christ. See Luke 6 : 12. 

Father of glory — pater — ancestor, one from whom it 
is given. Glory — same with Verse 6. 

Spirit of wisdom — same with "wisdom" in Verse 8. 

Revelation — apokalupsis — an uncovering, a mani- 
festing. Same with "manifestation" in Rom. 8 : 19. 

Knowledge — epigndsis — full knowledge. See this in 
connection with 1 Cor. 13 : 9-12. 

Paul proved the doctrine he ever taught respecting 
the members of the body sympathizing or rejoicing 
with each other in their afflictions or their triumphs. 
1 Cor. 12:26. When he knew of the faithfulness of 
the Ephesians towards each other, he thanked God for 
it because he well knew the source of real love. Every- 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 31 

thing which makes men honorable and creditable comes 
from God. He is. the Father of all that makes for an 
honorable reputation. Paul's prayer for them was 
that they might have skill in uncovering those myster- 
ies long hidden, the lack of which knowledge had 
shut out God's glory. To know them meant a full 
knowledge of the Christ. 

Some men are ever ready to impeach the worth of 
another because they see a single serious fault. Paul 
did not stand in such relation to men. He would 
rebuke sin, and do it fearlessly, but he rejoiced al- 
ways in every manifestation of the nobler life. The 
very fact that he ever extolled the good and the beau- 
tiful gave him his power with men in rebuking sin. 
Religion without love is a dogma with a worm at its 
heart. In praying, men must see God in what they 
desire. Light must meet light before we can see. The 
light of the eye must meet the light of the sun or 
candle. The light of wisdom in the spirit must meet 
the light of revelation or there is no manifestation of 
the spiritual. 

Verse 18. — Eyes of understanding — dianoia — intel- 
lect, whole mind, understanding. 

Enlightened — photizo — to give light. Same with 
Heb. 6:4. 

Hope — elpis — thought on the future with expecta- 
tion. 

Riches — same with Verse 7. 
Glory — same with Verse 6. 
Inheritance — same with Verse 4. 
Saint — same with Verse 1. 

The whole mind and intellect should be constantly 
increasing under the light-giving influence of the 
Spirit until men are able to discern the hope to which 



32 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



Christ has called them through faithfulness to God 
and manhood. Men should know the great riches 
which Christ feels that He has inherited in His true 
followers. If Christians felt more this way, as does 
the Christ, they would realize more love and careful- 
ness among themselves than is usually manifest. 

In Verse 14 we learn that all the wealth of the 
human soul lies in God and His love. He is our in- 
heritance. In this verse we see that God's divine gems 
are stored in men's souls. These are to bring increase 
to God who furnishes the capital. We should not 
underrate men, for God thinks great things of them. 
His inheritance is in men. His eye scans the celestial 
worlds, penetrates the intervening space, and beholds 
our earth; yet He finds nothing in all this upon which 
He may fix His eye of love. Man is a kin to the 
Eternal Spirit, and when he delights in God's laws 
he is a pleasure to God. The glittering golden gems 
of a thousand isles never catch His eye. All the starry 
splendor of the celestial universe never gains one 
moment of His loving attentions. His eye pene- 
trates the fiery rolling balls of the universe and sees 
the spirit of man made in His own image. Above the 
volcano's roaring belch, and the beating of the mighty 
waves upon the shores of Time's decaying strand. His 
ear patiently listens to the pleadings of the man whose 
contrite heart makes him tremble at God's word. 
Isa. 66 : 1, 2. If God has an inheritance in man He 
has a right to claim it. 

Verse 19. — Exceeding — huperballo — to surpass, to 
cast beyond, to throw beyond a mark, to excel, to ex- 
ceed all bounds, supreme. 

Greatness — magethos — largeness, magnitude, height. 

Power — dunamis — ability. See Luke 1 : 17. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 33 

Believe — same with Verse 13. 
According — same with Verse 5. 

"Working — energeia — energy, inworking. Same with 
"effectual working" in Chap. 3:7. 

Mighty power — the might or strength of His kratos 
— power, authority, rule, sovereignty, mastery. 

Christians, forget not the fact that God's greatness 
is cast not only beyond all that men were prepared for, 
or could expect, or that He had even promised, but it 
is cast beyond all difficult problems of life, and sur- 
passes all earthly influences that might be brought to 
bear against the pure soul. The ability that God 
grants unto man to overcome the enemy in the severest 
trials only proves God's own Almighty power in crea- 
tion and preservation. If man may, in an almost 
miraculous way, defeat the combined forces of sin and 
sinners, what do we suppose that the power of the 
Almighty Himself may do with them in the end. 

Some are prone to depreciate the value of the 
human life because it is weak apart from God, or 
because God Himself may have referred to it as a 
vapor cr cloud. Jas. 4 : 14 ; Job 30 : 15. The beauty 
cf this seems to be seldom understood. The quantity 
of vapor suspended in clear air depends on the tem- 
perature cf the air itself. As the temperature of the 
air rises, its power of sustaining vapor increases more 
rapidly than its temperature. An infilling of spiritual 
warmth causes the spiritual temperature to rise. This 
gives the spirit the power to bear upward the damps 
cf earth. Coming in contact with the sweeter and 
cooling effects of God's Spirit in acts of obedience, 
the ascending forces of the life become rarefied, ex- 
pand, then come back to earth in showers of blessings 
which fill a larger space than the soul which orig- 

g 



34- 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



inally contained them. Our powers of bearing increase 
more rapidly than our goodness. Heat radiated from 
the earth's surface causes the lower strata of air to be, 
ordinarily, warmer than the higher. These warmer 
currents rise through and above the colder currents 
above them. The lower air, if in contact with water, 
takes up its vapor in proportion to its temperature. 
In contact with cooler air it loses its power of sus- 
taining its own moisture, and then it begins to part 
with its water. 

A spirit warmed by the influence of brotherly love 
may yet think too much of itself. But as it ascends 
into the presence of God, in proportion to the heights 
attained will such a soul give back to the world the 
blessings received from the Father of benefits. Two 
masses or layers of air which are at different tempera- 
tures, often become intermixed. In such a case the 
mean temperature produced is unable to sustain the 
vapor proper for the two extremes, and moisture is 
then thrown off to the earth. This but illustrates in 
another way how Christians ever need one the other. 
Our different temperatures may be very useful if al- 
lowed the contact with one another that God has de- 
signed. Souls with different abilities are, singly, often 
unable to bless the earth, but when their volumes are 
united such souls feed the earth with moistening drops 
of love and grace. Clouds filled with water float in 
the atmosphere, not only by the extreme levity of the 
minute globules within themselves, but they are sup- 
ported especially by the ascending currents of air 
developed in both still air and in the storm. Chris- 
tians are sustained above the world not only by the 
power of grace within themselves, but also by the 
influence of other ascending spirits. Thus Paul under- 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 35 



stood it. "We live if you live.' "We live if you 
stand fast." 1 Thess. 3:8. "And none of us liveth 
to himself. ' ' Rom. 14 : 7. We have a life direct from 
God within ourselves, and we have a life, or an 
accessory life from our brethren. Clouds are often dis- 
solving on one side while they are forming on an- 
other side. It may be dissolving by evaporation at 
the base as fast as new water is being added above. 
Or an ascending warm current of air may be con- 
stantly depositing moisture at the base of the cloud, 
while it is evaporating under the solar rays above. 
But as soon as condensation exceeds evaporation, the 
atmosphere discharges a vast load of moisture. We 
may feel that our outside man, or the man on the 
earthward side is dissolving, 2 Cor. 4 : 16, but new 
matter is being added on the heavenward side under 
the radiance of the Sun of Righteousness. As God 
calls on men to give. out their lives on the heavenward 
side, the warm currents of brotherly love are con- 
stantly depositing on the earthward side that assist- 
ance which supplies or makes up for all sacrifice in 
the service of God. When the soul is supplied from 
above it gives out to the earth. When it is supplied 
from man's side of life it is given out in praises to 
God for such sweet felloAvship. To be as a cloud then 
is not to be weak after all. The cloud may then throw 
its lightning flash athwart the darkened sky, or shoot 
its bolt of fire into the earth among men. 

Verse 20. — Wrought — same with "work" in Verse 

11. 

Raised — egetro — to raise or rouse up. See Luke 
1:69. 

Right hand — dexios — right side. 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



Heavenly places — epouranios — in heaven. Compare 
with Verse 3. 

It was the power mentioned in Verse 19 that raised 
Jesus from the dead. His resurrection was only the 
firstfruits of the saved who have passed from this 
sphere. The same power that raised the firstfruits 
will also bring forth all of His brethren in their order 
and place them at God's right hand in heaven. The 
expression " right hand" is a borrowed phrase. In 
the Sanhedrin — house of judgment — there were ever 
two scribes who were before the judges, one upon the 
right, the other upon the left side of the judge. It 
was the business of the scribe upon the right to write 
the approval or acquittal. The scribe upon the left 
wrote the sentence of condemnation. Jesus came not 
to condemn, John 3 : 17, hence His place is always at 
the right hand, where He may write pardons for men 
who are captives to the Devil. Just such power is 
manifest in all true believers as was wrought in the 
raising Christ from the grave. There must be the 
same Divine power in the members that there is in 
the Head, or there can be no unity. There can be no 
natural body at all unless the members are the same 
nature with the head. Any other kind of body is 
unnatural; it is a monstrosity. The power that moves 
in the tree moves in the branches also. 

Compare Rev. 19:10. "The testimony of Jesus 
is the spirit of prophecy." Or, "To testify to Jesus 
demands the inspiration of a prophet." It takes the 
power of the same God, and the same power of God, 
to create a clean heart and enable it to rightly appear 
above its sin before its Creator, as that which created 
this world or enabled the prophets to foretell future 
events. The creation of man is amazing, but how 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 37 

much more so is the purpose for which he was created. 
The lower leads up to the higher. His creation then 
is not so high as that for which he was created. Jesus 
said, "I am the resurrection — anastasis — the after 
life" John 11: 25. He is not only the present "life," 
but He is the "after life" as well. He is the life 
after the grave has been conquered. Even Christians 
lock upon Christ's "after life" as a miracle, or a 
violation cf nature. Oh, when will men ever see the 
glory that Paul is here trying to show them? It 
would have been contrary to nature for Him not to 
have risen, because it was not possible that death 
should hold Him. Acts 2 : 24. The balance of na- 
ture was broken by death. The "after life" was but 
the natural order to restore the natural relation of 
things. In Him is "life" and "after life." In Him 
men live and move and have their being. Acts 17 : 28. 
Hence the awful darkness when He expired upon the 
cross. This is but a hint of what would have been 
if death had actually held Him. Had death conquered 
Him the law cf the universe would have been broken. 
Life would have been no more. As it was the "Spirit 
cf life in Him" preserved the universe from destruc- 
tion as it ^ preserved His body from decay. All that 
finds exercise in Him must find exercise in all who 
are one with Him. Hence the sigh of the "holy ones" 
after His resurrection — egersis — a rising, a coming out 
of the grave. In Phil. 3 : 11, it is exanastasis — a stand- 
ing up out of. In every other place the word resur- 
rection is from anastasis — meaning the "after life." 
Their coming forth from the grave is as sure as 
His. They that are Christ's must rise because cf their 
relation to Him. The Church needs not such a great 
and secure foundation, deep and tried, unless the 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



building thereon is proportionately great and glorious. 
Jesus is the " quickening Spirit." 1 Cor. 15:45. If 
the Spirit of Him that raised Jesus from the dead 
be in you, He shall quicken your mortal bodies by that 
Spirit in you. Rom. 8 : 11. He that believeth on the 
Son hath everlasting life. John 3:36. He that hath 
the Son hath life. Eternal life is in the Son. 1 John 
5 : 11, 12. The resurrection takes its root in the nature 
of God, in His relation to all who are one with Him. 
"I am the resurrection and the life." John 11:25. 
He raises all who believe in Him. John 6 : 39-40. 1 1 1 
hope to lay hold of that for which I was laid hold of 
by Christ Jesus. ' ' Phil. 3 : 13, Twentieth Century New 
Testament. "If I grow like Him in His death I 
may possibly attain to the resurrection from (out of) 
the dead." Phil. 3:11. If one with Christ in His 
sufferings here Paul feels that he will be one with 
Him in the "after life" of glory. See 2 Tim. 2: 11, 12. 
The word "sown," in 1 Cor. 15:42-44, signifies a 
springing forth. It is not "bury." "It is not that 
body that shall be." "We need not look for an identity 
of all the particles of the old and new bodies. A 
hidden germ constitutes that identity of the body 
amidst all outward changes. "Every such germ- 
seed — shall have its own body," 1 Cor. 15:38. The 
germ of life from the Christ is different from that 
corruptible germ of the flesh. Hence the resurrection 
body of Christ's people will spring from the quick- 
ening principle of immortality from Christ. "He is 
the quickening Spirit." 

There is much ado about whether or not Christ 
had the same body after coming forth from the grave 
that He had before His death. The fact that Christ's 
"after life" proved His victory over death and Satan, 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIAKS. 39 

Rom. 1 : 4, proves also that it was the same body that 
Joseph laid in the tomb. If not, then the Devil gained 
a victory over His flesh which was God-given. Now, 
the supreme moral quality of Jesus was holiness. 
There is a contradiction between that moral quality 
and permanent death. Holiness is more than sinless- 
ness. It is sinlessness plus wholeness. Physical cor- 
ruption has ever been allied with moral corruption. 
"We can not conceive how a being both sinless and 
absolutely pure can be allied with corruption of any 
kind. It was "not possible that death should hold 
Him." "Thou wilt not give thine Holy One to see 
corruption." It is absolutely impossible for absolute 
purity to become putrid. Did Satan win a victory 
over the pure flesh of Jesus? No. "A spirit has not 
flesh and bones as you see me have. ' ' Luke 24 : 39-42. 
"Have you anything to eat?" The disciples handed 
Him a piece of broiled fish. This He took and ate 
before their eyes. "Both the stomach and the meats 
are to be destroyed." "But the body is for the Lord 
and He will raise it up." 1 Cor. 6:13, 14. The 
stomach is for temporary use only. The body, the 
man, is for the Lord and the future. Christ ate meat. 
His stomach was not that which He should have in 
His glory. "Look for Him. He will change this body 
of our humiliation like the body He has in His glory." 
Phil. 3:20. "When He sits on the throne of His 
glory. ' ' Matt. 19 : 28. Moses and Elias appeared in 
the glorified state. Luke 9 : 31. Here the disciples be- 
hold Jesus in His glory. Verse 32. This was the nat- 
ural appearance of Jesus as Paul saw Him years after- 
ward. Acts 26:13-18. "Was not the Christ bound 
to undergo all of this before entering upon His 
glory ? ' ' Luke 24 : 25. Men are still seeking this 



40 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



glory. Rom. 2:7. Christ in you the hope of glory/ ' 
Col. 1 : 27. Christ in us is the hope of His glory. This 
hope leads us within the veil to the same glory. 
"When the Christ who is our life appears then you 
also will appear with Him in glory. ' ' Col. 3 : 4. His 
body was changed after His coming from the grave 
and before He reached the heavenly throne, as will 
be the case with those who are on earth when He 
comes. 1 Cor. 15 : 51. Those who appeal to the 
manifestations of Christ after His rising from the 
grave, as proof cf an absolutely spiritual body, must 
not forget that He walked upon the waters before His 
death. Mark 6 : 48. And He ate meat after His rising. 
Paul taught that the resurrection of Jesus was vir- 
tually the resurrection of all of His people, therefore 
some concluded that the resurrection was past already, 
as the Christ had risen. 2 Tim. 2 : 18. Character is 
the only foundation for confidence. This is why Paul 
declares, "If Christ be not risen our hope is in vain." 
Earth never had such a character as Christ's to in- 
spire confidence. ' If He has failed us there is then 
no character that we may trust. If He is not risen 
there is no Christian immortality, and at this moment 
there is no Christian life. 

The equivalent of the "after life ' ' of the just is the 
element of the Christ life plus the germ of human 
existence. Elements reproduce themselves according 
to the nature of the germ planted within them. If 
men are born of "incorruptible seed," immortality 
will be the fruit. All are appointed to death and the 
judgment, Heb. 9 : 27, but all are not appointed to the 
same resurrection. Christ has power over all flesh. 
John 17 : 2. The just shall rise by virtue of their 
union with Christ their Head, The unjust must rise 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 



41 



by virtue of Christ's dominion over them as Judge. 
Hence Mark 14 : 61, 62. The high-priest judges Christ 
who says the tables are to be turned when ' 'they 
shall see the Son of Man sitting in power to judge.' ' 
Those who have ' 1 done good unto the resurrection — 
after state — of life. Those who have corrupt things 
practiced unto the resurrection — after state — of judg- 
ment. John 5 : 29. — Roth. 1 1 Those who have acted 
rightly rising to life. Those who have lived wrongly 
rising for condemnation." — Twentieth Century New 
Testament. Those who have the power of life here in 
Christ, will, in the resurrection, "come out of life 
into life." Those who are here "dead in sins," will 
"come out of death into death." 2 Cor. 2:16. This 
second death has power only over those who come out 
of death. Rev. 20 : 4. As the resurrection springs 
from the conduct of God in the Christ, not only the 
reason of things, but the whole analogy of nature, 
should teach us not to expect to have a like clear in- 
formation concerning the conduct of God as concern- 
ing our own duty. 

The word "perish" — abad — in Isa. 57 : 1, 2, signifies 
the straying of cattle, or their passing from one pas- 
ture to another. Jesus passed through this earthly 
life, passed by men, on before them into an immortal 
pasture. We can now know clearly what Jesus means 
in John 10:9. " Shall go in and out and find 
pasture." Into Christ through His grace, out into 
immortality through His resurrection. Away from the 
pasture of grace into the pasture of glory. 

Verse 21 — Above — huperano — over, uppermost, hav- 
ing the upper hand of. Same with Chap. 4 : 10. 

Principality — arche — Beginning, dominion, empire, 



42 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



government. Earthly empires to which men look as 
the first to be considered. 

Power — exousia — privilege, authority. 

And might — dunamis — strength, ability, force, au- 
thority. 

Dominion — -kuriotes — lordship. 

Name that is named — onoma — name by which one 
is known. Onomazd — to make famous. 

This world — aidn — age, dispensation, indefinite time. 

To come — niello — to be about to be. Same with 
Eom. 5:14; 1 Tim. 4:8. 

Christ's power extends beyond the power of magis- 
trates of an earthly empire. He has an abundance 
of means and resources left after all earthly kings 
have become bankrupt. His wisdom is superior to 
the wisest sages and the greatest philosophers. The 
capacity of His strength makes Him Lord of. lords. 
He is superior to all that shall be in the age to come. 
Eternal majesty belongs to Him. Sovereign of worlds. 
Ruling the armies of heaven. The sceptre is His. 
Heb. 1:8. 

Verse 22 — Put all. " Things" is supplied in both 
places by the translators. It is not all things that 
are put under Christ, but all 1 ' people.' ' Over "all 
people" pertaining to the church. 

Head — kephale — chief point, sum, conclusion, the 
source of. 

Church — ecclesia — that which is called out and 
then gathered in. 

What is the Church? This question can only be 
comprehended by carefully observing that which con- 
stitutes the Church, as well as the name by which the 
Church is to be distinguished. The word rendered 
' ' church ' ' is applied to the whole body of the redeemed. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESXANS. 



4o 



Chap. 5 : 25-27. To a small association of Christians 
worshiping in a private house. Col. 4 : 15. To a 
civil assembly lawfully convened. Acts 19 : 39. This 
term signifies an assembly separated from others and 
then gathered together, more especially one convened 
by invitation or legal appointment. The Church of 
Christ is that body of Christians that is called to- 
gether by divine appointment according to Cod's 
written word. The Church is catholic ; that is, it is 
characterized by its universality, encompassing all 
those throughout the world who hold the true faith. 
This great society has been called the Church because 
it has in this dispensation of grace been set apart 
for a sacred and divine purpose. The very idea of a 
kingdom implies a king. But one king is needed to 
govern one domain. This would prove the Church 
to be but one. Subjects to be governed implies visi- 
bility. Governed by one Head implies unity, which 
is the essential attribute of the visible kingdom. He 
who has all power in heaven and earth is the king. 
Those who are obedient to His laws He sends forth 
to execute His judgments. Ps. 149:7-9. " Teach 
all nations" is the only weapon that has ever been 
given to his "ministers who do His pleasure." "Bap- 
tize them" is the badge of citizenship borne by all 
the initiated. "To observe all things" He taught 
is the only statute law to present to the world for 
its deliverance. "I am with you" declares the "Royal 
Presence" in every conflict and labor of love. "Unto 
the end" is the length of time that Christ will lead 
the faithful on to victory. Matt. 28:18-20. The 
Church is always addressed as a single person, the 
Bride of Christ, which can imply but one. God no- 
where represents the Church as subsisting in multi- 



44 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



tudes of independent societies, but as a great whole. 
It is represented as possessing individual unity. The 
Word declares against division upon the principle 
that the Church is visible and one. John 17 : 21-23. 
It declares all ecclesiastical deliberations and decisions 
of men upon any other principle than the written 
Word, as usurpation over the consciences of those 
made free through Christ's gospel. The Church is 
but one society. The Bible is the statute book. Jesus 
Christ is the law-giver, and the covenant relation is 
the uniting bond of the Holy Spirit whose circulating 
influence penetrates the whole spiritual system. 

In the beginning, Christian men and women work- 
ing together with God constituted the Church. Has 
any different economy been given? Christ and all 
Christians in partnership. Has any new arrangement 
been established? The vine and the branches complete. 
Is this not still the heavenly law? At Pentecost, what 
was the Church? Believers who were obedient to the 
Word. At Cornelius' house, what was the Church? 
True believers of every nation who feared God and 
" worked righteousness." Two or three gathered to- 
gether in Christ's name, obedient to His commands; 
Christ in their midst. Have we not found the Church, 
the body of Christ? Obedience is the base of all 
spiritual conjugal excellence. Christ is the Head and 
Law-giver. Isa. 9:6; 22:22; Jas. 4:12. The safety 
of Christ's Church is not made more secure by the 
legislation of men, but men are perfectly equipped 
under the laws of the Christ. 

Verse 23. — His body — soma — the whole body, the 
mass of a thing. 

Fullness — same with verse 10. 

Filleth — pleroo — to make full. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIAXS. 45 

The Church is the body cf Christ and must of 
necessity contain all cf His members. He is not only 
the fullness Himself, or the All-Filler, but He fills 
all that is made full. Every member that helps to 
fill His Church is placed in its position directly 
through Christ. Every glory that helps fill the soul 
of individual members is extended directly from the 
Head. Anything that could exist and not contain 
every member of Christ's body can not be His Church. 
Anything which may be filled by any other authority 
than His is not cf His make. All institutions having 
different laws have different heads. Christ can be 
the Head cf but one Church, one body, as the husband 
is the head cf but one lawful wife. Chap. 5 : 23. 
"What the hand builds up the foot never tramples 
down. What the eye sees as good, the ear hears and 
the heart obeys 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



CHAPTEE II. 

Verse 1. — Quickened — suzoopoieo — to give or pre- 
serve life together. 

In the original there is no word that corresponds 
with this word in this text, but there is such a word 
found in Verse 5. It has seemed proper to the trans- 
lators to supply it here. 

Dead — nekros — a dead man. In Homer, as dwell- 
ers in the nether world. A cessation of correspond- 
ence. 

Trespasses — paraptoma — a falling aside, false step, 
a blunder. 

Sins — hamartia — fault of judgment, a failure. 

Dead is used as opposed to that state coursed 
by life, a dead body, and is applied to man. The blood 
being understood as being the life of the living thing, 
Lev. 17 : 14, the terms ' ' dead ' ' and ' ' death ' ' are often 
used with reference to men who are not made righteous 
by the life-giving flow of the blood of Christ. Death 
is a cessation of correspondence. It is never used, 
when speaking of sinners, to denote a state of anni- 
hilation. It is used to denote all who have no cor- 
respondence with God the source of all true life. 
God is the source of life. Life is more than mere 
existence. Sins separate from God. Isa. 59 : 1, 2. All 
such are dead. "Let the dead bury their dead." 
See notes on Luke 9 : 60. ' 1 She that liveth in pleasure, 
sepatalo — to live voluptuously — is dead while she 
liveth." 1 Tim, 5:6. These expressions show con- 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHBSIANS 47 

clusively how the word is intended to be understood. 
See Luke 8:52. 

To trespass is to fall aside, to take a false step. 
Therefore it is impossible to fall into voluntary evil 
without falling aside from the life of Christ. All 
sinners are in death 4 'while they live. ,, Sin's venom- 
ous fangs have struck into their vitals. The poison 
courses every vein. Doom ever lies heavily upon the 
guilty soul. Sin accompanies such into the presence 
of the pure, and death "sits by his side in the feasts 
of life. ' ' The soul is coffined in a crystalized form 
of folly. Such an one is alive to the world's follies, 
and knows all slang and evil speech, but ask him con- 
cerning the law of love and the spirit of life in 
Christ Jesus, and he is as dead as was Goliath under 
the weight of his own sword. 

Sin alone can separate a soul from its Creator 
the source of all life. Celestial strains can not inspire 
the soul that is stone deaf. The dead are past feeling. 
Chap. 4 : 19. If they ever love, a new life must be 
given them. The dead are destitute of all the mys- 
terious powers of life. They become more and more 
corrupt. They have no restorative power within them- 
selves. They have no taste for God. They can not hear 
what the Spirit says through the Word. The longer 
time a dead body continues exposed the more loath- 
some it becomes. It is so with the sinful who grow 
more sinful until their measure is full. The vilest 
of lusts prey upon them, yet they feel them not more 
than the corpse does the worms. They never lift a 
hand to drive them away. Transgression refers only 
to willful sin, while the term sin may be the " missing 
the mark" which is not intentionally done. God will 
not force upon the sinful soul in its helpless state 



43 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



the mercy he so violently opposed when he was able 
to choose for himself with reference to the good and 
the pure. You are desiring a government some time, 
somewhere, where all is in the hands of a wise God, 
yet you are doing all in your power to take that 
government out of His hands. You expect freedom 
for yourself from God, because of His mercy, while 
you shackle the lives of those of His poor who fall 
under your power. Such are ever as Dives in Hades. 
They will not call for a " better place" but only for 
a little less torment in the bad place they are in. He 
who can not endure God's name here would despise it 
in heaven. The light of life is gradually growing 
dim. The flickering flame of true manhood smoulders 
beneath the globe that encircles the soul, which should 
have been truth and love. The very citidel of honor 
has been blackened. You have scattered gloom. You 
will reap the "blackness of darkness." Ten thousand 
thunders will re-echo from the clouds of endless night 
the wail of the soul that now becomes conscious of the 
fact that God is supreme. The bells of eternity will 
toll the requiem, the death march will begin never to 
cease unless eternity comes to an end. There is a 
compassion rising from the spirit already ravished 
in heaven that burns with desire to behold its fellow 
pilgrims enraptured in the living embrace of Christ, 
secure from the withering curse. Turn to God "or 
dfie." You may get this out of your mind but never 
out of the decree of the One who will not always 
be mocked. Heaven is but the name of character in 
conformity to the will of God. Hell is character op- 
posed to His law. There has been accomplished in 
the atonement all that guilt could require or mercy 
desire. The door that barred the presence of God 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHE'SIANS. 



49 



has been thrown open wide. God invites to His com- 
munion. Shall we continue under the sentence of 
eternal exclusion? Physical death causes the necessity 
for the removal of the dead from the society of the 
living. The funeral of the soul must remove it from 
the society of the living, the holy and the happy. 
Good men make the kindest efforts to prevent temporal 
death and the necessity for a funeral. "Who does 
not try to arrest death? 0, has there not been much 
done to prevent the funeral of the soul? Think of 
the cross. Work of the Spirit. Kindness of God and 
the prayers and good will of the pure in heart. We 
have no funeral over the living, only the dead. Tears 
flow. But tears, none more bitter, have been shed, 
enough almost to flood a nation, over the persistence 
of sin as friends wind themselves in the winding-sheet 
cf moral death and make the funeral solemnities at 
the judgment a dreadful reality. The dead must 
be removed. Justice and love both demand it. It 
is owed to the character of God and the pure in heart 
to have the dead removed from the living. Great God, 
Thou whom we adore, how may we awaken these from 
this awful stupor? Heaven pity the world and lessen 
the number of such removals. Man, remember your 
childhood's innocency, your mother's prayers, and 
father's last message. Those lips are silent now per- 
haps, but their message ought not to be forgotten. 

Verse 2. — Walked — peripated — to walk around. 

According — same with Chap. 1 : 5. 

Course — aion — age, course of things. Same with 
1 ' ages" in Verse 7, and Col. 1:26. 

World — kosmos — arrangement, the fashion of a 
thing. See Chap. 1 : 4. 

Prince — arehon — chief one, prominent one. 
4 



50 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



Power-— same with Chap. 1 : 21. 

Air — aer — atmosphere. See note on Luke 8 : 5. 
Compare the word there translated "air." 

Spirit — same with Luke 1 : 17. 

Worketh — same with Chap. 1 : 11. Compare with 
Chap. 4 : 28, where it is ergazomai — to toil, to labor. 
The first shows what is done in us by another. The 
latter shows that which we do. 

Children — same with Luke 1 : 16. 

Disobedience — aneitheia — one whose conduct is con- 
trary to law; one who refuses compliance. One who 
disobeys; a disbeliever; one who mistrusts. 

Sinners walk according to the fashion of the age 
in which they live. This is not true with the Chris- 
tian. The gospel of deliverance never utters the 
opinions of successive ages, but ever stands as an 
antagonist to the more prevalent opinions. This gospel 
is the Christian's guide. Satan is referred to as 
"prince." God's power is manifest in both heaven 
and earth, but Satan is chief in this world apart from 
Christ. From him there seems to be an influence that 
pervades the very atmosphere, tempting men to the 
wrong. For this reason he is called the prince who 
courses the air, the which power operates in those 
who refuse the Christ. As the air around the dis- 
eased and the dead becomes infected with a deadly 
contagion, so the prevailing evil of any age spreads 
itself through the whole atmosphere of earth laying 
hold of many who would otherwise be morally healthy. 
John will help us to an understanding of this peculiar 
text. "Those who have derived their life from God 
keep the thought of God in their minds, and then the 
evil one does not touch them. We know that we be- 
long to God while the whole world is under the in- 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIAXS. 51 

fluenee of the evil one," or "lies in the evil one." I 
John 5:18, 19. — Twentieth Century Neiv Testament. 

The moral air is pregnant with sin's delusions. 
Sin's evil germs are everywhere floating around. The 
least exposure of any soul means an infection of the 
deadly germs of impurity. The word "walk" ex- 
presses a regular or habitual course. Their whole life 
is sin. As the damps put out the light so do these 
sins obscure the light of life. The spider may weave 
a web in which to catch its prey, but it can not teach 
the fly to weave the web for its own destruction. In 
this business the devil is the only master of art. He 
causes men through the genius of sin to weave their 
own webs of death. He leads men to make a huge 
joke of his very existence that he may thus take them 
the more surely. The word "air" — aer — is opposed to 
ouranos — the light ether, or the heaven. The word 
carries with it the idea of that between men and the 
sky. The idea of cloudiness, mist, or even darkness. 
The devil may, through the sins of men, hide the light 
of the heavens from those who walk the lower vale, 
but that light shines above all clouds or mists for 
all who will mount up as on wings of eagles above 
the clouds to the ever-shining sun. In Acts 16 : 16, the 
word "divination" is from python — spirit of python 
or spirit of Apollo. It was the old name of Delphi 
and the surrounding regions. In Greek mythology 
it was the horrible serpent produced from the slime 
of Deucalion's flood. Deucalion was the son of Prome- 
thus, the fire-bringing god. Pyth, the huge serpent, 
had his oracle at Mt. Parnassus and was famous for 
predicting future events. Apollo slew this dreadful 
serpent, hence he was called Pythius, or Apollo 
Pythius. 



52 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



The sons of God in Job 1 : 6, are the angels. Job 
38 : 7. They had a work upon earth to do. Heb. 
1 : 14 ; Matt. 18 : 10. They had assembled before God 
to give an account of their work. Their accuser who 
assembled with them, was originally one of them. 
Job 4:18; 15:15; Jude 6; 2 Peter 2:4. He ap- 
pears now as an angel of light. 1 Cor. 11 : 13, 14, 
although he is an intruder. When asked from whence 
he had come with these others, he answered, "From 
walking through the earth." The inference is that 
he had not gotten off of his original territory. Once 
it was to assist in doing the bidding of God. Now 
it is to destroy God's work if possible. When man 
lost his control of this world through sin against 
God, it seems that Satan became an almost absolute 
prince. Whoever Satan was he looked upon Job as 
he had done upon Adam in Paradise. If he could 
cause a sinless one to fall, he was then emboldened 
towards fallen man. 

"I am come from going round the earth to ex- 
amine the works of men and walking through it." 
— Choi-dee. 

"Having gone round the earth and walked over 
all under heaven, I am come hither." — LXX. 

This implies that angels were expected to be look- 
in? into the affairs of men. 1 Cor. 4 : 9 ; 1 Tim. 5 : 21 ; 
Heb. 1:14; 1 Peter 1:12; Psalms 34:7; 35:5; Acts 
5: 19; 7:30; 27:23. 

Satan, the accuser, Rev. 12 : 10, possessed a certain 
riffht over men because of sin. He plead that right 
before God day and night. As long as the blood of 
reconciliation was not actually shed, the Atonement 
which is opposed to Satan's accusations was only in 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIAXS. 



53 



promise. He accuses Job. He resists Josliua, Zech. 
3:1, 2, who represented the coming Church. 

Jesus says "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from 
heaven," Luke 10: 18. 

This presupposes that before the Christ came, the 
rebellious angels were privileged to enter heaven as 
other angels, as seen in Job 1:6. As good men could 
not reform the earth and bring redemption to it, 
neither could good angels restore to heaven its peace 
or shut demons out. Heaven was not open to man 
nor shut against the rebellious angels until Jesus 
came. "For God has rescued us from the tyranny 
cf darkness, and has removed us into the kingdom 
of His Sen, who is the embodiment of His love, and 
through whom we have found deliverance in the for- 
giveness cf cur sins. Christ is the very incarnation 
of the unseen God — the Firstborn — and Head of 
all creation. For in Him was created all that is in 
heaven and on earth, the seen, and also the unseen — 
angelic Beings whatever their power and rank. All 
has been created through Him and for Him. He 
was before all things, and all things depend upon 
Him for their existence, and He is also the Head of 
the Church, His body. Being the first to be born 
again from the dead, He is the source of its (the 
Church's) life, that He in all things may stand first. 
And this is so because it pleased God that the divine 
nature in all its fullness should dwell in Christ; and 
it also pleased God to reconcile all things to Himself 
through Him, bringing about peace by the sacrifice 
offered upon the cross of Christ, all tilings BOTH ON 
EARTH and IN HEAVEN. Col. 1 : 13-20.— Twentieth 
Century Neiv Testament. Heaven and earth both enter 
in the Christ. Chap. 1 : 10. 



54 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



"Prince of the air." The greatest gods of all 
nations was the storm, or element god. The Greek 
Zeus, or Jupiter, was the god of the elements who 
wielded thunderbolts and controlled the fountains of 
the air. The Cyclopes were released by Zeus from 
Tartarus where their father had thrown them, and 
they fashioned an infernal thunderbolt by which iEs- 
culapius was slain. The Scandinavian Thor was the 
thunder god. Thunder was caused by his rolling 
chariots. The Hurakon of the American savage was 
the Great Spirit whose voice was heard in the thunder. 

The pulsations of the atmosphere once set in motion 
by the human voice cease not to exist with the sound 
to which they give rise. The air is one vast library 
on whose pages are written forever all that man has 
ever said, or woman whispered. Influence can not 
end. What is done is done. It has blended with the 
boundless and the eternal. 

In this present sphere man may never ask himself 
about any action, plan, or result, but in that day 
which is peculiarly "His day," he will suddenly find 
himself in a realm where that is the only question. 
If we would judge ourselves here we will not be judged 
by the Lord there. 1 Cor. 11 : 31. Latimer said, when 
he was being judged he was very careful what he said, 
for he heard a pen writing just behind the curtain. 
If men really knew that their words and actions were 
being recorded for future reference, would that make 
them the more careful? The dramshop man, or the 
keeper of the brothel, will find it no light thing to 
answer for all of their victims. Judgment is not to 
reform men. No man was ever hung to reform him. 
No law was ever given to keep men from sinning, but 
to punish them if they did sin. We usually draw two 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIAXS. 



5o 



horizontal lines and divide society into upper, lower, 
and middle classes, but God draws one vertical line 
through the whole business, making but the two classes, 
the righteous and the sinful. There is no caste in the 
eye of God. 

Verse 3. — Among whom — the disobedient. 

Conversation — mastrepho — to turn up and down, 
behave one's self. This refers to the acting of the indi- 
vidual, while in Chap. 4:22, the word is ana-strophe — 
behavour, and refers to that which is done. In Heb. 
13 : 5, it is tropos — manner. In Phil. 3 : 20, it is poli- 
teuma — citizenship, or citizen state of life. In Phil. 
1 : 27, it is politeud — to act like a citizen. 

Lusts — epithurnia — desire, over-desire. In Jas. 
4: 13, it is hedone — pleasure, sweetness. In Rom. 
1: 27, it is orexis — eager desire, a burning. In 1 Thess. 
4:5, it is pathos — suffering, affection. 

Flesh — sarx — carnal. Same with "carnal" in Rom. 
8:7; Heb. 9:10. 

Fulfilling — poieo — to do or to make. In Phil. 2:2, 
it is plero — to fill, to make full. In Jas. 2:8, it is 
teleo — to end, make complete. In Mark 13 : 4, it is 
sunteleo — to end together. In Luke 21:32, it is 
ginomai — to become, to come to pass. In Rom. 13:10, 
it is plero ma — fullness. 

Desires — thelema — wish, a willing, will. 

In Luke 22:15: Phil. 1:23; 1 Thess. 2:17: it is 
the same with "lusts" in this verse. In Rom. 10:1, 
it is eudokia — good pleasure. In Chap. 3: 13, it is 
aited — to ask. In Acts 28 : 22, it is axioo — to think 
worthy. In 1 Tim. 3:1, it is oregomai — to stretch 
the arms for. Also Heb. 11:16. In 1 Cor. 16:12, 
it is parakaled — to call along side of. In Jas. 4:2, 
it is zelod — to be zealous of or for. 



56 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



Mind — dianoia — intellect, full mind. In Phil. 
14 ; Rev. 17 : 13, it is gnome — an opinion, or decision. 
In 1 Pet. 4:1, it is ennoia — inner mind, purpose. In 
Phil. 4:7, it is noema — thought. In Chap. 4 : 17, 23, 
it is wows— will. In Acts 14:2; Phil. 1:27; Heb. 
12 : 3, it is psuche — soul, animal life, which is the same 
with ' ' soul ' ' in many texts, as Heb. 4:12; Jas. 1 : 21 ; 
3 John 2. 

Nature — phusis — naturally, constitution of a thing, 
temper, disposition. 

Children — teknom — as one born of; an offspring. 
Compare with Verse 2 where it is huios. In Chap. 
4 : 14, it is nepios — a babe, one without full power of 
speech. 

Wrath — orge — violent passion, anger. Same with 
' ' anger" in Chap. 4:31. "Wrath" in Chap. 4:31 is 
thumos — evil mind. 

The disposition cf men who are dead in sins is 
to drift with the current cf the age. They are over- 
whelmed with excessive fleshly passions. Such act not 
as men who have the life cf manhood and individuality, 
but as that which is a mere tool or instrument. They 
are the children cf violent passions, hence wrath and 
lust must be their natural element. Passions let loose 
become the master cf any man. The malignant sting 
causes a withering blight to be felt in all vocations 
of life. Like the deadly Cobra that hides itself within 
the beautiful forests that are the most inviting to man 
and beast for shelter from the tropical sun; even so 
does this venomous monster, "lust," coil within the 
breasts cf those who would mimic the rich graces that 
tend to make one feel that here at last is a place for 
help and spiritual understanding, but they receive 
only the force of this serpentine influence. This gilded 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE BPHESIANS. 57 

book with a tragedy written within is repugnant to 
all right-minded people. It is distasteful to clean 
society, and is an open violation of the law of God. 
It "slayeth the silly. ' ' Job 5:2. 1 'It is the rotten- 
ness of the bones. ' ' Prov. 14 : 30. Like the troubled 
sea such a spirit can not rest. It is lashed into fury 
by its own waves of sin and vice. Condemnation's 
awful cloud obscures the sun. Like blight to the beau- 
tiful tree is the sting of conscience. Yet all this 
torment is but an effect. Sin is the cause. When 
a soul is once tossed upon the billows of immorality 
it is borne swiftly along the rapids of uncontrollable 
lusts, and over the falls of despair into the gulf 
of misery. 

Verse 4. — Rich — same with Luke 6 : 24, which see. 

Mercy — eleos — kindness, the pain of the heart at 
the sight of woe and wretchedness. 

Great — polus — many, numerous. 

If a man out of love should seek out an enemy 
to be reconciled to him and to do him good, is it not 
likely that such a man would be constant in his love 
to him to the end? We were enemies to Christ when 
He sought reconciliation. He will ever be true and 
unchangeable. John 13:2. Mai. 3:6-7. 

Verse 5.— For "dead in sins," and " quickened," 
see Verse 1. 

Quickened together — suzdopoied — to give or to pre- 
serve life together. 

Grace — same with Chap. 12. 

Saved — sozo — to make sound or safe and to keep 
in that condition. See Luke 1:71. "By grace ye 
are saved" should read, "By whose grace ye are 
saved." 

As physical death locks up all the faculties and 



'58 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



powers of the body, so does sin lock up the faculties 
and powers of the soul. The sinner is dead to all 
spiritual life. 

Verse 6. — Raised up together — with Christ. 

Heavenly places — ta epourania — the heavenlies. 
See Luke 2:13; 11: 13. 

Sit together — sugkathizo — to sit down with. 

God is so rich in kindness towards men that while 
they are lost in sin, and devouring one another by 
violent passions, He raises them from this state of 
death and makes them heirs together with Christ of 
that life to which belongs the everlasting heavenly in- 
heritance. It is only by the grace, or favor of God 
that any are saved. The redemption wrought through 
Christ is not something to be received or cast away 
at the will of man. It is the only salvation for lost 
men. It is an everlasting messenger filled with the 
power of life, swiftly passing to and fro through the 
earth to lift fallen men from their slumber of death. 

As Christ was raised from the darkness and death of 
the grave through the power of Divine Life, so man 
through Christ is raised from the state of spiritual 
death and is made to sit — sit down — with Christ in 
places of a heavenly nature, instead of the earthly 
and sinful state occupied by the transgressor. 

That same Omniscient eye that penetrated the 
gloom around the tomb of Jesus, and that same Omnip- 
otent hand that raised Him to the heavenly throne, 
are now seeing and lifting the sinner's spirit. The 
dead m their graves may be marched over by triumph- 
ant armies, but they join not in the shout of vic- 
tory. Thus it is with men dead in sins. Life and 
spirituality may hover over and all around, and pro- 
claim the presence of immortality, but they appre- 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 59 

ciate it not. When wili men cast off the grave clothes 
of folly and rise to real life? 

Verse 7. — Age — same with " world" in Chap. 1:21. 

Might show — endeiknumi — to show clearly or in- 
wardly. 

Exceedingly — same with Chap. 1 : 19. 
Kiches — same with Chap. 1 : 7. 
Grace — same with Chap. 1 : 2. 

Kindness — chrestotes — usefulness, beneficence. Same 
with 2 Cor. 6:6; Col. 3:12 and Tit. 3:4. In Acts 
it is philanthrdpia—loYe of mankind. In 2 Pet. 1:7, 
it is Philadelphia — love of the brotherhood. 

Toward us — epi — upon, over, up to. Same with 
Matt. 12:49. 

Paul lived in the last dispensation of time. The 
"ages to come" of which he speaks, were doubtless 
the different epochs that should succeed each other 
in this last dispensation. There was the age of heathen 
idolatry; the age of the papacy when church and 
state were under the same earthly ruler; then the age 
of Protestantism where church and state became dis- 
united. Then there is to be the age of unifying or 
gathering God's people together from the many divi- 
sions of the religious world. In all these ages God 
has shown and will show His surpassing grace and 
beneficence to all faithful followers of the truth in 
ways unknown and time untold. All the races of man- 
kind who have lived in the past, and all future genera- 
tions are embraced in the plan of redeeming love. 
Heb. 9 : 15. The highway of the soul life has been 
laid out and is nearing perfection since man was 
thought of. Chap. 1:4. for the spirit of fore- 
looking. The call is for men who will live sym- 
pathetically with the present, but live by feeding upon 



60 BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 

the visions of ages to come, in Christ. For men who 
will work to save the present but who will live far 
ahead of the present. An "age to come" will truly 
reveal a Church that is in reality Christ's body. We 
have seen the leaves of the tree. We have seen the 
blossoms beautiful in the sun, so rich in appearance 
that the world marvels at the sight. But the fruit will 
appear in "its age" when love and unity shall feed 
all nations evermore. 

Verse 8. — Grace — same with Chap. 1 : 2. 

Saved — same with verse 5. 

Faith — same with Chap. 1 : 15. 

Is the gift — dor on — presents given as tribute ; an 
offering. 

Men are saved and preserved through faithfulness 
in Christ. Salvation comes as a favor. Nothing within 
man, except that which God Himself has created, in* 
vites the least attention from God. The human race 
in sin thinks itself a proud race. It is only ignorance 
and the deceitfulness of sin. This folly is one of the 
worst of sins. Salvation is a gift. Not a single con- 
tribution from the sufficiency of self can supply the 
least favor, or mercy. A Saul must be unhorsed be- 
fore he can see the Son of God. 

Verse 9. — Works — ergon — deed, business. Same 
with Rev. 14:13. 

Lest — hina me — for fear. 

Boast — kauchaomai — to vaunt one's self. 

Men are not to trust in mercy, grace, or anything 
else, but in Christ Himself. "Saved through favor." 
It is not favor that saves. It is God who saves through 
favor. "Saved through faith." None are saved by 
faith. All are saved by God through faithfulness. 
No works of any kind save. It is God who saves 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 61 

when men have done the works He requires of theni. 
Jas. 1 : 18. No one is saved through faith as an act 
of the mind, but through faith in the object of the 
mind, which is Christ. All who are in grace "sit to- 
gether in heavenly places;" hence their citizenship 
there. Phil. 3:20. 

For this reason should men seek "the things which 
are above, ' ' where He is. Col. 3 : 1. Our spirits are 
to be ravished in heaven. Our treasure is where the 
Lord of the spirit dwells. From this great spiritual 
heavenly Head, each spiritual member draws its life 
and its laws. Good works can never mend the influ- 
ences of the past. Works of obedience may only keep 
the soul perfect before God for the present moment. 
We are not chosen "of" or "by" good works, but 
"for" good works. Man must cease from his own 
works of self before the grace of God may be of 
benefit to him. IXeb. 4 : 10. Life is a receiving, a 
gaining of strength. What men do is a giving "out" 
of their strength. Work is a giving out, not a receiv- 
ing. Therefore there can be no life received merely 
as a result of doing. 

If men were able to save themselves by their works, 
some would have an advantage because of environment. 
Such men would boast over their fellow men as they 
do concerning secular things. God gives to all the 
same degree cf salvation, although all have not the 
same degree cf appreciation. "Good works" is the 
stone over which the Church stumbled and fell head- 
long into the Papacy. The following will interest us 
as to how the "Good works" theory cf the apostacy 
arose : 

The sixth century of our era passed away like a 
hideous dream of the night. Wave after wave of the 



62 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



Barbarian hordes swept over Europe and Asia. Rome 
was sacked five times. Paganism was overthrown, but 
Christianity became paganized. It was a great im- 
provement, however, over the former kind of idolatry. 
Monasteries first arose, as that of Benedict, for pro- 
tection against these marauding savages. Noble at 
first, these soon became dissipated. It was in one of 
these that Mohammed had his first lesson in the faith. 
His followers soon commanded the strongest armies 
of the whole world. They crossed the Bosphorous into 
Europe. They stormed Constantinople with six hun- 
dred vessels of war and one hundred thousand troops. 
Sixty thousand were slaughtered. All boys were forced 
to acknowledge the prophet, while the girls were 
dragged into the harems. The crescent was raised 
where the cross had stood. This invasion rolled up 
the Danube in surges of flame and blood. This beau- 
tiful valley became a battle field where Christian and 
Turk grappled in the struggle of death. One lovely 
day in June, along the flower decorated banks, might 
have been seen 200,000 warriors. At evening a white 
city arose along these grassy streets like a fairy vision 
in the rays of the declining sun. But the black day 
had come. On the Island of Zigeth, under the noble 
Zrini, after weeks of fighting and starving, the Turks 
overran the garrison. Just as they raised the shout 
of victory, and were raising the crescent upon the black- 
ened and blood-stained rocks, a fearful shock occurred, 
as appalling as the thunders of the arch-angel's trump. 
Zrini had fired the subterranean vault containing thou- 
sands of kegs of explosives, and the armies of the 
Turks were hurled into 'he unseen. But the followers 
of Mohammed rallied, took all Asia, Egypt, Africa, 
and Greece. They crossed the Straits of Gibraltar 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 63 

from Africa into Spain. They overran the whole 
Spanish peninsula, and hung for years like a black 
cloud upon the Northern cliffs of the Pyrennes, threat- 
ening France. They swept both banks of the Danube 
to the walls of Vienna. It seemed at one time that 
all Europe was to be cut down by the cimeters of 
these religious fanatics. This continued for five hun- 
dred years. Is it strange then that the Church would 
learn the art of killing those who opposed them? 
This was a time when Christian men had not only to 
believe, but they had to work and fight as well. Then 
came the question, Are we saved by works or by faith? 
Why the question? He was the greatest man, hence 
the best Christian, who was the best warrior. To be 
the best warrior meant to kill the most Mohammedans. 
Think you it was so very strange? Faith could re- 
ceive so little attention in this bloody warfare, that 
works and the sword appeared to be all there was 
connected with the religion of the Church. If works 
or fighting could save them, the better the work or 
the more successful the fighting, the better the salva- 
tion. The greater the glory the greater the honor. 
He who could do more would work for him who could 
do less. This privilege was then bought of the Church, 
to work for another, so as to get the reward the 
Church might be able to give. This was the first in- 
dulgence. To him who would thus devote himself to 
God, God would surrender to him all the blessings, 
open all prisons, overcome all obstacles and lead him 
to absolute liberty, i. e., to Himself. So led by God, 
man would in some sense be rather divine than natural 
man. So close was he to God, to touch man was to 
touch God. He who would see and confess the former 
must see and confess God. Here the transition was 



64 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



made from the creature to God. Man now became 
divine because of his office, but not because of his 
character. God being the God of the dead as well 
as of the living, if man and God together could bless 
the living here, why could not man and the same 
God continue to bless man in the spirit world, since 
man and God are "one spirit?" Works alone could 
now save; hence he who died without the rites of 
the Church, if saved ever, must be saved through the 
works of some one else who is in close touch with 
God. Out cf this came the doctrine of purgatory. 
If the Church was to save the world, why not save 
those who had passed away before the Church had 
reached them? Then any unbeliever might be saved 
by the abundance cf good works, masses, and prayers 
of the Church. The child that was baptized ( ?) would 
ride in the little carriage, constellation of "the Little 
Bear," straight to Paradise. The unbaptized child 
would find that one cf the wheels cf the carriage would 
break before it could reach the goal. The Church alone 
being the "repair shop" for all spiritual mishaps, 
prayers and works must fix this carriage. But this 
false system will yet be buried in the grave with 
paganism. The caterpillar weaves its own beautiful 
cocoon, but if it should remain within the house cf its 
own make, death would be the sure result. It, as 
man, must force itself out cf its own works if it would 
mount into the sunshine cf God. 

Verse 10. — Workmanship — poiema — a poem; any- 
thing made. 

Created — ktizo — to make, to produce. 

Good works — same with verse 9. 

Before ordained — proetoimazo — to make ready be- 
fore. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESXANS. 65 
Walk — same with verse 2. 

The human soul is the poem of God written in 
the heart of Christ Jesus. As the poem is expressive 
of the highest degree of inspiration that comes to the 
mind of man, so the human soul expresses the highest 
inspiration that ever came to the mind of God. This 
is the reason He paid the greatest price that could 
be given for man's redemption. Every Christian is 
the poem of God produced in the heart of the Christ. 
If you open a book of poems you will find an elegy, 
a lyric, an ode of battle, or it may be a love song. 
Lives of the different Christians are like all these. 
Salvation is not the effect of good works, but good 
works are the result of salvation. The only way in 
which man may honor God for His matchless mercies 
is by giving out to others in good works, the benefits 
the Father has given to him. The song which God 
has written, let it be sung to others. By doing this 
men return to God the blessings granted to them. 
2 Cor. 1:3, 4 ; Matt. 25 : 40. This path was laid out 
in the Command to multiply and replenish the earth. 
Men were to serve one another instead of laying snares 
of jealousies to trammel the souls of their fellows. 
The very love which laid out the soul's highway, and 
feeds the spirit in the heavenly realm, also enters into 
the faithful life, and into its humblest duties that 
produce "good works" for the Master's cause. There 
are not two creations. The salvation found in Christ's 
redemption is nothing but the original plan re-affirmed. 
The "new creation" in Christ only restores the old 
and original scheme of God's love. 

"Walk" denotes both a way and an action. It 
is not a step or two in any direction which denomi- 
nates a man a "walker," but it takes continued mo- 
5 



36 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



tion. "Walk in them." This walk is a walk by- 
rule. A Christian is not a lawless person to range 
up and down the universe of God without order and 
law. Fancy can not lead the man of God. God's "first 
law being order," the man of God must be a follower 
of God. The Christian "life" is not made a mere 
thing of thought for the secluded spot. It is a "walk" 
before men. A man's walk is the constant tenor of 
his life. If it is worth the while to come to Him 
in the first place, it is worth the while to always walk 
with Him. "He that followeth Me shall not walk 
in darkness. ' ' John 8 : 12. Many a man asks to 
know the entire way before he sets out in his duty 
to God. This is not God's way. The Word of God 
is a "lamp unto our feet," not a sun that floods for 
us a universe. In the darkest night it will always 
reveal the next step. No man is foolish enough to 
cast away his lantern because he can not see to the 
end of the way. That very fact is the more reason 
why he should hold to his lamp. He who would take 
a step and then another one, and still remains where 
he was, is no walker. This is nothing but the "goose 
step." Such "start with nothing" and congratulate 
themselves that they "have held their own." A blind 
man is surrounded by light but he does not walk in 
it. Why? Because it is not in him. The eye must 
be opened to truth before man can "walk in the light 
as He is in the light." 

Verse 11. — Remember — mnemoneuo — to call to 
mind. To call to another's mind. To make mention 
of a thing. 

Gentiles — ethnos — a body of men; the nations. 
Flesh — same with verse 3. 

Called— lego — to lay out, collect, to say of a thing. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 67 

Circumcision — peritome — to cut all around. 

"Remember." The light of reason is sufficient to 
show men that they should cherish the grateful remem- 
berance of a great deliverance. It should be produc- 
tive of deep humility. This recollection should excite 
to the liveliest gratitude for so happy a change. It 
should endear one to his fellow man with a desire 
to help those yet in the condition he formerly was in. 

"Circumcision." The cutting away of the fore- 
skin. This religious ceremony is practiced by many 
people in different parts of the world. The practice 
goes back to the earliest known periods of history. 
It may have been a substitution for the original 
phallic sacrifice. "Where it originated, and for what 
purpose, it is difficult to know. The first part of this 
verse would be correctly read thus: "You were once 
heathens yourselves, as your bodies showed." The 
works of folly are manifested in the appearance of the 
whole man, body and spirit. It is so with the correct- 
ing influence of the spirit of the Gospel. 

Verse 12. — At that time — when you were heathen. 

Without Christ — choris — apart from; off from Him. 

Aliens — apallotrioo — to allot to others; to alienate. 
Same with alienated in Chap. 4 : 18 ; Col. 1 : 21. It 
means to be cut off from the privileges others have. 

Commonwealth — politeia — polity, community. See 
verse 3. 

Israel — see Luke 1 : 33. 

Strangers — xenos — strange, foreign. Another 
people. It means one who is strange to, or different 
to, rather than one of another race. In Luke 17 : 18, 
it is allogenes — belonging to another race. Which see. 
In 1 Pet. 2 : 11, and Acts 7 : 29, it is paroikos — a so- 
journer, or temporary resident. 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



Covenants— diatheke— arrangement. Same with 
Luke 1:72. 

Promise — same with Chap. 1 : 13. 

Hope — same with Chap. 1 : 18 ; 4:4. 

Without God — atheos — atheist; with no god. Com- 
pare with first part of this verse. 

World — same with Chap. 1:4; 2:2. 

A sinner is one who is detached from and a stran- 
ger to, the community and the fellowship of the re- 
deemed of God. The Christian's citizenship being 
in heaven, all who look no further than this world for 
their glory and peace, are strangers, foreigners, to the 
commonwealth of Christ's eternal inheritance. Such 
are without God in the very world He has made. 
They have no hope of God in that world where He 
has His seat of government. On the great Ocean of 
Life without a pilot where God Himself could speak 
the raging tempest calm. They are dying with hunger 
under the very shadows of the tree of Life. They 
are sick of spirit when the Healer of spirits is waiting 
for a call. They are wandering in darkness while 
the Light of Life is beaming from the cross. They 
are tempted in the wilderness of sin, never dreaming 
of the power of Him who conquered its dreariness 
and its evil before them. ' ' Without Christ" places 
a man before God as he really is. Nothing to better 
him. There is no pardon, for there has been no claim. 
No intercessor to plead. No refuge to fly to. 

To do away with the thought of God, man must 
part with the most ennobling books of the world. He 
must banish the earliest and the sweetest memories 
of his purest day. He must abandon the hope that 
right will eventually be vindicated and wrong made 
manifest. He must sacrifice conscience and reason. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 



69 



In fact, he must deny his very existence. Is it a 
wonder* then that Paul describes such a state as the 
most deplorable? Do you wonder that God declares 
such a man "a fool!" Would any pure man who 
is sane, go from his home where a loving wife, and 
children dear, grace all with the sweetest presence, 
to find pleasure, or happiness? Yet men fly from 
God to find happiness. Ignorance, what is thy awful 
nature ? 

Under divine supervision a palace — my soul — was 
erected for me. I moved in armed with immense 
power. Darts of pleasure, breastplate of selfishness, 
helmet of infidelity, and girdle of presumption, feel- 
ing myself secure in this self-satisfied state I fell into a 
stupor, and saw a vision that proved to be the turning- 
point in my life. 

Having traveled along the way of Folly for some 
distance, I came to an inn called Meditation. Here 
I remained for a time, and thought I beheld One 
coming who was stronger than myself. Though so 
well armed, I feared yet that He would bind me and 
take my palace. I hastened out through the alley 
of Conviction into the by-path of Bewilderment. The 
lamps of Reason glimmered from a distance, but they 
were almost hidden by the fog of Self-will. A stone 
of offense (the gospel, Rom. 9:32, 33) tripped me up 
and e'er I had gathered myself together again I had 
gone over the embankment of human frailty and re- 
ligious blunders to the very level of Arrogance plain. 
In the gloom of falling night I came against a door 
that closed the entrance to the state unseen. After 
fumbling for a time for the latch, I called to the 
porter, if perchance one might be there. I was in- 
formed that this door could be opened only from my 



73 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



side of: it. Where is the key ? I was raving. Through 
a megaphone at the top of a distant tower known as 
Opportunity Missed, came the words : ' ' Had you come 
into the path of Virtue through the alley of Truth 
instead of tumbling over some other way into the 
path of Bewilderment, you would have passed the 
Inn of Duty where each pilgrim is furnished with a 
key, that he may without waiting for others, unlock 
the door for himself. I dared not return to this 
Inn for fear of meeting with the Strong One who 
was upon my track. Go forward, I could not without 
that key. I turned to the right to find a way around. 
Here I ran against the wall of Soul Remorse. I 
turned to the left, but collided with the barren craigs 
of Mental Despair. I looked upward, and from a 
slender thread held by some unseen finger, hung the 
gleaming sword of Retribution. I looked downward 
to escape its awful edge, and behold Hades was moved 
to meet me. From its fiery bosom came the shafts 
of Vengeance. I shut my eyes, but in the distance I 
heard the rumbling of the artillery of Gehenna. I 
plead for the strength to fly. Darkness had gathered 
her awful mantle and dropped it around me. A wild 
storm raged with fury. I felt myself moving. I flew, 
through the tempest and over the wildest moor. The 
lightenings flashed out their forked tongues and blazed 
across the heath. Amidst the raging elements a house 
was sighted. Thither I fled. "Who keeps this house?" 
I cried. "Justice," came the answer. "May I shelter 
beneath thy roof? The storm is terrible, and dread- 
ful is this night of darkness." "Shelter thee? I 
can not, for I have just kindled and am now fanning 
the fiery flames from which you would fly." Higher 
up on the mountain side in the glare of an awful flash. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 



71 



I saw a house, over the door of which was inscribed 
the single word, "Truth." "Protect me, I pray!" 
"I can not, for in the calm thou didst not remember 
me. How mayest thou appreciate me when thy 
thoughts are so troubled about the present storm? 
Those who would be with me in the storm, must ac- 
company me through the calm." Onward I madly 
flew. I saw the House of Peace. "May I enter?" 
"Thou mayest. But, unless thou hast the heart of 
peace thy troubles would be only here increased." 
Through the livid light another house was seen in 
the distance. To it I flew. Over the wicket gate 
was written, "Mercy." "May I enter?" I cried in 
despair. "Yes, fly thither, haunted soul, for nights 
and days have I waited for thy coming. This shelter 
was made for such as thyself. Come, rest thyself 
within my gate, and under the rays of the morning 
sun of Assurance I will accompany thee to the Inn 
of Duty. There thou mayest receive the needed key, 
and become equipped and prepared to defend thyself 
and demand an entrance anywhere." All thoughts 
of foolishness had flown. And God only appealed to 
me as that which is truly great. 

Verse 13. — Far off — mdkran — a long way ; far away. 
Same with "afar off" in verse 17. 

Nigh — eggus — near* to; near as possible; near as 
any one is. Coming very near; most like. 

Blood of Christ — by His sacrificial atoning for 
ignominious and penal death. 

"Now through your union with Christ Jesus, you 
who were once far off, have by the sacrifice of Him- 
self been brought near." — Twentieth Century New 
Testament. 

Those who acknowledge the Covenants of Grace, 



n 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



and the blood by which they are sealed, are Drought 
nigh. They are akin to the heirs of grace. The 
blood makes one with God, and all who are akin to 
God are akin to each other. Sin is the dividing ele- 
ment. Wherever sin comes the harmony of things is 
broken np. If you wish to know how far sin has sepa- 
rated man from God, study the perfect life of Jesus 
while among men. You hate that which separates 
your loved ones from you. This is the reason God 
so hates sin. It puts far off from Him those whom 
He loves. Blood alone advanced the Israelite into the 
court. See Heb. 12 : 24. The blood alone advances the 
soul into the presence of God and heaven. 

Deism finds God only in heaven. Pantheism finds 
Him only on earth. But Christianity finds Him both 
in heaven and earth. To be without God is to have 
an everlasting craving without that which alone can 
satisfy it. It is to starve without a crumb to feed 
the perishing soul. It is to be in a world where 
the mists of doubts and sin have put out the starry 
intentions of the tender youthful years. It is to 
be weary with no place to rest. Atheist ! What can the 
word mean in the fullness of its awful reality ? 

Verse 14. — Our peace — same with Chap. 1 : 2 

Made both one — Jew and Gentile. "Hath made 
two divisions of mankind one." — Twentieth Century 
Neiv Testament. 

Broken down — luo — to loose, to undo; weaken. 

Middle wall — mesotoichon — wall between. Dividing 
issue. 

Partition — phragmos — fence, hedge. 

Through His death, Christ, broke down the hedge 
that was between Jew and Gentile, the national line 
of distinction, and made them one in Himself. Sin 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 73 



is not an Israelitish nor Gentile blemish, but it is a 
human blemish. One blood flows through the veins 
of the universe. Christ's death once "for all." It 
was a universal sacrifice. It reconciled not only a 
nation, but a world. There was no quarrel between 
Jew and Gentile. All quarrels were with God. The 
Jew had his quarrel with God. The Gentile had his 
quarrel with God. When each party had settled his 
quarrel with God there was no quarrel between them- 
selves. When Jew and Gentile gathered around the 
cross, weeping for their own sins, each found cause 
for rejoicing in the cleansing stream of universal love. 
A poor man lay dying. The physician said, "You 
can not live. I tell you this so you can make your 
peace with God." "Make my peace with God, sir? 
Why, that was made eighteen hundred years ago, when 
Christ paid my debt upon the cross. Christ is my 
peace, and I am saved." 

Verse 15. — Abolished — katarged — to make thor- 
oughly inactive; to make useless, void; to make idle, 
or of no consequence. 

In His flesh — the sacrifice of Himself. 

Enmity — echthra — hatred, enmity between two per- 
sons, or hatred for another. 

Law of commandments — entole — thing given in 
charge. See Luke 1 : 6. 

Ordinances — dogma — that which seems true to one, 
an opinion. Same with Col. 2: 14. 

Twain — duo — two, twice one. 

New man — Jcainos — recent, newly made, fresh made, 
clean. 

Peace — same with Chap. 1 : 2. 
This text is sometimes resorted to as argument 
against the New Testament ordinances, such as bap- 



74 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



tism in water, or the communion of the Lord's table. 
There is no word here which casts the slightest re- 
flection upon any New Testament institution. It was 
no New Testament ordinance that Christ made of 
none effect. It was those opinions held by the Jews 
that made them wage war against all other nations. 
These "dogmas" were not commandments of God. 
They were those things held as an opinion, or that 
which seemed true among the Jews only. The spirit 
that would contend for such notions was rebuked by 
the Christ. Matt. 15 : 1-3 ; 12 : 1-13. He did not allow 
the Gentile to cling to his idolatries, nor the Jew to 
hold to his traditions. He brought both into His 
kingdom and made a complete and new change for 
them both, thus of the "two" making "one new man" 
in "Himself." 

Ordinance in Luke 1:6, is dikaioma — a judicial 
appointment. Also in Heb. 9 : 1-10. In 1 Pet. 2 : 13, 
it is ktisis — any made thing, as a law made by an 
earthly government. In Col. 2 : 20, it is dogmatizomai 
— to be under a dogma, decree of man, or man's 
opinion. 

The communion and baptism are in and of the New 
Testament, hence they could not have been what 
divided the people before Christ came. Being in the 
New Testament, 1 Cor. 11 : 25, they could not have 
been abolished by the New Testament. Both Jew and 
Gentile are represented as being incomplete, but half 
a man, until they found each other in Christ. 

The word "to make" signifies to "create" in Him- 
self. 

Verse 16. — Reconcile — apokatallatto — to change thor- 
oughly from. Same with Col. 1 : 20, 21. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 75 

Unto God in one body — the Church or body of 
Christ. See Chap. 1 : 22, 23. 

The cross — same with "the blood" in Verse 13. 

Having slain — apokteino — to kill off. Same with 
Luke 9:22. 

Enmity — same with Verse 15. 

God thoroughly changed the order of both Jew and 
Gentile. He proved to them that they were both 
aliens from the true spiritual kingdom of God. Christ 
reconciled them in Himself. In Him all personal 
enmity is slain. A man may slay an enemy, but God 
alone through Christ can slay enmity. As well make a 
law demanding men to enjoy pain, or to feel delights 
upon a bed of thorns, as to ask them to love each other 
outside of Christ. Christ does not change God's heart 
towards man. He only changes man with relation 
to God's law. The law of our State does not change 
when we obey or transgress. While we are obedient, 
it protects. When we transgress, it punishes. 

Verse 17. — Preached — euggelizo — to tell good news 
or tidings. In Luke 3:3, it is kerusso — to cry or pro- 
claim as a herald. In Acts 20 : 7, 9, it is dialegomai — 
to speak throughout. Converse with; reason with; 
argue. To discuss a question. These three things are 
absolutely essential to the thorough preaching of the 
Christ: First — Go as a herald. Second — Tell the good 
news. Third — Discuss and reason with men who are 
interested. Tell it to all, but discuss it with those 
who desire it. 

Peace — same with Chap. 1 : 2. 

Far off — same with Verse 13. Nigh — same with 
Verse 1.3. 

It was Christ who preached peace. The Great 
Teacher who spake as never man spake. Abraham 



79 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



Lincoln's doorkeeper had standing orders from him, 
that no matter how great might be the throng, if 
either Senators or Representatives had to wai,t, or be 
turned aside without an audience, he must see before 
the day closed, every messenger who came to him 
with a petition for the saving of life. The Jew had 
been reckoned as being the one near to God. All 
others were far off. When Christ came He had no 
favorites. He preached unity and concord to all. 
He made one of all in His kingdom. 

Verse 18. — Through Him — by Him. 

We both — same with Verse 14. 

Access — prosagoge — a leading unto. Same with 
Chap. 3 : 12 ; and Rom. 5 : 2. 

One spirit — pneuma — one feeling, one mind, or 
"United in spirit we are now able to approacn the 
Father." — Twentieth Century New Testament. 

All who are one with Christ are in fellowship with 
God; and all who are one with Him are in fellowship 
with each other. 

Access means a leading unto God in order and 
with much glory. It is when a person is handed into 
the presence of the king by some great or favorite 
person. A "bold access" indeed. Or "access with 
boldness." 

Verse 19. — Now therefore — since at home in Christ. 

Strangers — same with Verse 12. 

Foreigners — paroikos — sojourners ; dwelling near 
for a time. Same with Acts 13 : 17 ; 7 : 28 ; 1 Pet. 2 : 11. 

Fellow citizens — sumpolites — joint citizens. Com- 
pare with Luke 15:19; 19:14; Acts 21:39, where it 
is polites — member of a city or state; connected with 
one's city or country. 

Saints — same with Chap. 1 : 1. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 77 



Household — oikeios — belonging to the house. Same 
with Gal. 6 : 10. Not only the citizen of the country, 
an inhabitant of the city, but a member of the king's 
family. 

When an alien sinner comes to repentance through 
faith in Christ, he is no longer a stranger, nor even a 
sojourner dwelling among the redeemed, but is actually 
a . ■ joint citizen'' with the 4 'holy ones" of the house 
of God. Fellow citizens. Bound to seek each other's 
good. Bound to conform to the ordinances of their 
city. Bound to observe the rules of the family. No 
one may be a good son unless he would also be a good 
brother. A true father cares as much about the ac- 
tions of his children towards each other as he does 
regarding their actions towards himself. Loyalty to 
one another is but another name for love. No place 
begins to be home until it becomes a place of mutual 
ministries, inspired by love. Many a so-called home 
is no more than a boarding-house or hotel. Can the 
same be said of many a so-called church? It takes 
more than four walls to make a home. More than a 
motto, i 'God Bless Our Home," to insure such a 
blessing. 

Verse 20. — Built — epoikodomed — to build upon. 
Same with 1 Cor. 3 : 12. 

Foundation — themelios — anything laid. See Luke 
6 : 48. 

Apostles — See Chap. 1 : 1. 

Prophets — prophetes — public expounder. That 
which bubbles forth as a spring. See Luke 1 : 70. 

Chief corner-stone — akrogonialos — extreme angle. 
The corner foundation stone. 

A prevailing idea which is very erroneous is that 
regarding what constitutes the Old and New Testa- 



73 



BEAUTIFUL WOBD PICTURES 



ments. All from Genesis to Malachi is not of the Old 
Testament. See Matt. 5:17; 7:12; 22:40. The 
prophets lived in Old Testament times, but they 
prophesied of New Testament grace. 1 Pet. 1 : 10-12. 
The Old Testament proper included nothing more than 
the old will or covenant, Testament. Therefore, the 
prophets are as much the foundation of the true 
Church as are the apostles. In fact, some of these 
older prophecies have not been yet fulfilled. See Dan. 
12: 2. Compare with John 5:29. The Church is 
based upon Truth, with Christ Himself as the "chief 
foundation stone," and the One who occupies the place 
of extreme angle in which the entire building is 
framed, or laid out fitly together, and compacted as 
the Temple of the Lord. 

Verse 21. — In whom — Christ the chief Stone. 

Building fitly framed — sunarmologeo — to lay out 
fitly together. 

Groweth — autano — to increase, to grow up. 

Holy — hagios — separate, set apart. Same with 
Chap. 1:4. See Luke 1:49. Same with "saint" in 
Chap. 1:1, 15, 18; 2:19. 

Temple — naos — a dwelling-place, inner sanctuary. 
See Luke 1:9. 

The foundation of the church must be the founda- 
tion of each individual member of the church. - The 
essence of a foundation must be its strength. This 
foundation is Truth. Truth is eternal. It can not fail 
or change. 

Each stone in the former Temple of God was made 
to fit the building before it was handed to the framers 
or builders. The materials of a house form no place 
of abode while they are scattered about. They must 
be "builded together." In the former temple the 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 79 

giory of God did not appear until the building was 
complete. His Spirit did not come into the building 
materials until they were placed together in the struct- 
ure. This is a very strong reason why we should 
avoid all divisions and strifes among those who claim 
to be of the Church of Christ. 

Verse 22. — Ye also — Ephesians, Gentiles. 

Builded together — sunoikodom-eo — to build a house 
together. 

Habitation — katoiketerion — a place to live in. 
The Spirit— see Chap. 1 : 13. 

The reason nations are builded together in Christ, 
is because they will thus be fitted for God's dwelling- 
place. The church is His dwelling-place. For this 
reason it must be perfectly united, since He has but 
one Temple upon earth. 

"One new man." Not Jew or Gentile, one nation 
or another, male or female, but simply a man. A new 
man. He is our peace. TTe go not to others, nor do 
others come to us. True unity is found in that all 
come into the Christ. "Both in one body to God." 
"In one spirit unto the Father." "They are Christ's, 
so also are we." All "builded together for an habi- 
tation of God. He is the Way. Unto Him all men 
come for the walk of Life. Enoch walked with God 
because he went the way God was going. 



80 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



CHAPTER III. 

Verse 1. — For this cause — anti toutou — over against 
this. The reason why. Same with Chap. 5 : 31. 
Paul — see Chap. 1 : 1. 

Prisoner — desrnios — one bound; a captive. See 
Chap. 1:1. 

Jesus Christ — see Chap. 1 : 2. 

Gentiles — Same with Chap. 2 : 11. 

The manner in which our Authorized Version of 
the Bible is divided into chapters, often misleads the 
mind as it searches for Scriptural connections. By- 
force of habit we are inclined to think a subject, or a 
certain phase of that subject, complete when we come 
to the end of a chapter. 

This first verse is the commencement of a prayer. 
Because of the sublime truths expressed in the latter 
part of Chapter 2, Paul's soul seems to be over- 
whelmed with the presence of a heavenly glory coming 
from a special revelation which he was to present for 
the benefit of the world, age upon age. He breaks 
forth into prayer. But at the conclusion of Verse 1 
he drops into the depths of divine truths hitherto 
unknown even to himself. He drops in a parentiiesis 
from Verses 2 to 13. This is another strain of unbroken 
revelation similar to that of Chapter 1. Very few 
periods were needed in this train of wonders of 
which Paul is the leader. After this wonderful revela- 
tion he again, in Verse 14, takes up the prayer begun 
in Verse 1. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIAXS. 



81 



Verse 2. — Heard — akouo — to give ear, to hearken 

Dispensation — same with Chap. 1 : 10. 

Grace of God — same with Chap. 1 : 2. 

To you ward — "The responsible charge with which 
God entrusted me for your benefit." — Twentieth Cen- 
tury New Testament. 

In the management of God's great family He could 
have found no one more suitable as guide or apostle to 
all nations than this faithful man, Paul, who was ever 
so unselfish and mindful of others. 

The word "if" might better be read "since." The 
thing is not doubtful, but it is taken for granted. 

Verse 3. — Revelation — same with Chap. 1:17. 

Made known ; Mystery — same with Chap. 1 : 9. 

Wrote afore — epigraplio — to write before, or pub- 
lically. Same with Rom. 15 : 4 

Few words — en oligo — in a little, briefly. 

Paul was initiated into the mysteries of God. There 
he saw uncovered those things which had for ages, and 
many things which had always been hidden from the 
minds of men. 

"Wrote afore" does not refer to a former letter 
or epistle, but to what he had already briefly stated 
in the first chapter, verses 9, 10. 

Paul promises these brethren that they may have a 
knowledge of the precious mysteries of the gospel that 
had been made known to him. This is ever the Chris- 
tian spirit. Ready to extend to others the benefits 
they themselves receive. 2 Cor. 3, 4. 

Verse 4. — Whereby — by what I have written. 

You read — anaginosko — to begin to know again, to 
read. When you refer back to these things. 

Understand — noeo — to ponder, to think. To come 
to the right knowledge of a thing. Same with Yerse 20. 

6 



82 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



Knowledge— sunesis — understanding. What I un- 
derstand of the revelation of Christ. Same with Mark 
12:33; Luke 2:47; 1 Cor. 1:19; Col. 1:9; 2:2; 2 
Tim. 2:7. 

Mystery — same with Chap. 1:9. 

When you read. Reading the gospel is so beneficial 
that a time should be allotted for that purpose. A 
letter from a friend so affects us that if we receive it 
during the time we are sitting at a meal, we will not 
taste anything more until we have read the letter. 
The gospel, the letter from God, we can not neglect 
for a moment without indignity to the spirit of friend- 
ship and love. A divine revelation is indispensable. 

It was Varro, a Roman writer, one century B. C, 
who says he had been at the pains to collect the opin- 
ions of men regarding the question, "What is the true 
object of human life?" or "What is the supreme 
good?" He had collected three hundred and twenty 
different answers. Man can not find the true object 
of human life. The supreme good can not be found 
without a revelation from the Author of life and good. 

Terse 5. — Other ages — genei — other generations. 
Same with Yerse 21. Compare with Chap. 2 : 7. 

Made known — same with Chap. 1 : 9. 

Sons of Men — anthropos — human beings, mankind. 

Now revealed — apokalupto — to uncover, to unveil, 
to disclose. See Luke 2 : 35. 

Holy apostles. For "holy," see Chap. 1 : 4. Apostles, 
Chap. 1:1. 

Prophets— same with Chap. 2 : 20 ; 4 : 11. 

The things revealed in the New Testament revela- 
tion were not made known to the generations of men 
before that time. 

By the Spirit — in the Spirit. Same with Rev. 1 : 10, 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 



SS 



Paul 's heart is filled with the knowledge of the infinite 
and eternal blessings which were to be the inheritance 
of the human race. Human sin was to be forgiven. 
Human weakness was to be made strong to baffle the 
tyranny of ewil passions and habits. 

Verse 6. — Gentile — same with Chap. 2:11. 

Fellow heirs — sugkleronomos — one receiving a lot 
with another. Same with Rom. 8 : 17. 

Same body— See Chap. 1 : 22-23. 

Partakers — summeioclios — a joint holder. Same with 
Chap. 5:7. 

His promise — same with Chap. 1 : 13 ; 2 : 12 ; 6 : 2. 

By the gospel — same with Chap. 1 : 13 ; 6:15, 19. 

"As the result of union with Christ Jesus and 
through the Good News, the heathen are joint heirs 
with us and members of the same body, and that they 
share with us in Cod's promises." — Tiventieth Century 
New Testament. 

The Jew supposed he was the only heir to the 
promises made before- the appearance of the Christ. 
This egotism was rebuked when God brought the na- 
tions to be joint-holders along with the Jews in the 
promised inheritance in the one body of the Christ. 
The special conceit of their self-love was that they 
of all men were the favorites of God. But God who 
through Christ is no respecter of persons or nations, 
opened His heart for all. The Jew, as a result, refused 
to enter a kingdom which gave him no distinction 
above other men. The worship of Jew and Gentile 
together was unthought of until Christ proclaimed it. 
John 10 : 16. It is not to change the nationality, but 
the life of men. The Jew may retain his distinction 
as a Hebrew, as the American and the Englishman do 



84 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



their identity, but the spiritual unity is found in 
Christ. 

Whereof — of which gospel. 

Made a minister — diakonos — deacon, laborer, min- 
istrant. Same with ' ' deacon ' ' in Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 
3 : 8, 12. Same with ' ' servant ' ' in Matt. 22 : 13 ; 23 : 11 ; 
Mark 9:30; John 2:5, 9; 12:26; Rom. 16:1. 

According to — same with Chap. 1 : 5. 

Gift — dorea — a free gift, a present. 

Grace of God — same with Chap. 1:2. 

Effectual working — energeia — inworking. Same with 
Chap. 4:16. Same with " working" in Chap. 1:19. 

Power — same with Chap. 1 : 19. 

Through the inworking of the Spirit Paul could 
see men as God sees them. Knowing their worth he 
was willing to become the servant or waiter to the 
Church for which Christ died. He was not its lord 
or ruler. Each Christian has a sacred trust for the 
honor of this kingdom delivered to him. He is a 
servant. He must do, whether it is pleasant or dis- 
agreeable for the time being. 

What things of this world are within themselves is 
nothing. It is what they are in relation to us that 
counts. Hydrogen is a new thing when it touches 
oxygen. Light falling upon the hand or the forehead 
brings no revelation of itself. It is when it touches 
the eye that the great world of its possibilities is 
opened. A musician may run his fingers over an 
ordinary block of wood, but there is wafted from that 
no sweet harmony. It is when his fingers press the 
keyboard of the musical instrument that the melodies 
gladden the earth. Truth within itself is good and 
beautiful. But it is only when we apply it to our lives 
in its connection with God that it becomes that which 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 85 

is sublime and has the power to save. A spiritual force 
demands a spiritual person. We use fire or the force 
of electricity without connecting their use with char- 
acter or will. The Spirit of the Christ can not be so 
used. See Chap. 1:20. The soul's affections can only 
be stirred by character, soul can only be touched by 
soul. It is not the theories held by my friend that 
makes me love him. It is his own personality. His 
thoughts only help me to know his wishes. 
Verse 8. — Unto me — Paul. 

Am less than the least — elachistoeros — of less worth 
than the least Christian. 

Saints — same with Chap. 1:1. 

Grace — same with Chap. 1 : 2. 

Should preach — same with Chap. 2 : 17. 

Gentiles — same with Chap. 2 : 11. 

Unsearchable riches — anexichniastos — not traced out. 
Riches— same with Chap. 1:7. ' ' Undreamt-of wealth." 
—Twentieth Century New Testament. 

Paul felt that it was indeed strange God should 
select one who had been on the track of the Christian 
as a hungry wolf on the scent of blood, to deliver those 
very principles he endeavored to destroy, and on 
which the Christian lived. To deliver to all nations 
those secrets that had never been even dreamed of, 
Paul was just as ready to see the greatness of Christ 
now as he had been to esteem his own importance in 
the days of his life as a Pharisee. God must find 
men who see nothing great out God, nothing within 
themselves, all in Christ. Such as wholly rely upon 
the inworking of the love and Spirit of the Christ, 
and never upon their own importance or their standing 
before men. Once he boasted of the law, but not now. 
"We preach not ourselves but Christ.' ' 2 Cor. 4.5. 



86 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



The bird that builds upon the ground soars the highest, 
and sings the sweetest. The lowly violet is the sweetest 
and richest in fragrance. The heaviest ears of corn 
hang downward. The spirit which ascends the highest 
before God's throne, is the one that bows the lowest 
before the cross of Christ. Thy gentleness — anvah — 
humility, hath made me great. Ps. 18 : 35. 

It is an honor to be the bearer of the tidings of a 
great victory. How much more to be the bearer of the 
message of the victory of Christ over sin. 

"When Mr. Dawson was preaching in South Lambeth 
on the offices of Christ, he presented Him as Prophet 
and Priest, then as King of Saints. He marshaled 
patriarchs, kings, prophets, apostles, martyrs, and con- 
fessors, of every age and clime, to place the insignia 
of royalty upon the head of the King of kings. The 
hearers were wrought up to the highest pitch of excite- 
ment, and, as if waiting to hear the anthem peal out 
the coronation hymn, the minister commenced singing, 
'All hail the power of Jesus' name.' The audience 
rising as one man, sang the hymn as perhaps it. was 
never sung before." — Foster's Ency. 

Happy is the man that makes God his trust, is a • 
blessed truth realized by the obedient of all ages, and 
especially so under the beautiful economy of Christ's 
grace. His peace is pure, sweet, even. False gods for- 
saken, his trust is in the shadow of the Omnipotent. 
He has not the stamp of nominal holiness, which is 
evangelical and pleasant only in appearance, but he 
has the true stamp of divine glory pressed upon his 
character, where the life of Christ is not merely imi- 
tated, but actually reproduced in his mortal walk. 
2 Cor. 4 : 10, 11. In this dark and degenerate day, when 
complicated difficulties arise to cool the righteous zeal and 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 



87 



dampen holy joy, he by a close and humble walk main- 
tains daily communion with God. By such communion 
he is animated, quickened and borne on spiritual wings. 
Ever looking above he sees but little of the confusion 
in the vale of Death. By infinite grace and the hand 
of Love his name has been enrolled in the volume of 
Eternity. Justice has laid down his awful sword and 
has joined hands with Mercy, who holds out the sceptre 
of eternal favor. He is a jewel among rubbish, a pearl 
among pebbles. Clothed with the character of Christ 
he realizes a more enduring substance reserved for him 
just across the vale of mortal difficulties. His endeavor 
is not to do or to speak great things, but to love great 
things. He never asks, "What can I do?" but rather, 
""What should I do?" Justice has thrown him at the 
feet of Mercy, and Mercy has led him to the flow of 
imperishable joys. He desires neither to complain nor 
offend. He hates sin more because of its nature than 
because of its danger. He has but one heart from 
which but one life may issue. His thoughts or actions 
never dwell where he would avoid the presence of 
witnesses. His word is his oath, nor will he violate it 
for fear of loss. Circumstances may multiply against 
him, but he will never eat his own promise. He com- 
plains not that he saw not the circumstances, but fulfill 
his promises he will. Above-board you will find all 
of his dealings. He declares the fault of what he 
would sell. A bribe to him is venomous. He hastens 
to replace the overlooked bill placed in his hands by a 
mistake in reckoning. He looks at that which he should 
do, leaving the result with God, whom he trusts. His 
heart is his friend's sanctuary. He loves good words, 
but admires good actions better. He seeks not the joys 
of heaven to flee earth's sorrow, but because God is 



S8 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



there. He flees from hell not because of its power, but 
because of its nature. If there were no hell he would 
hate sin. If there were no heaven he would follow 
peace. He is a stranger here. His heart is ravished 
in heaven. He meets the glories of heaven and em- 
braces them. He meets the powers of hell and tramples 
them. In the battle for right his hand may be 
wounded, but his heart remains whole. He is the 
" happy man." 

Verse 9. — The fellowship — koindmia — communion. 
In 2 Cor. 6:14, it is metoche — partnership, a holding 
with. In Chap. 5 : 11, it is sugkoinoneo — to be a joint- 
partaker with. 

Mystery — same with Chap. 1:9. 

Beginning of the world — ap aionos — from the age, 
or ages. Long ages. Same with Luke 1 : 70. 

Hid — apokrupto — to hide away. Same with Luke 
10 : 21. 

Created — same with Chap. 2 : 10 ; 4 : 24. 

In Verse 4 Paul desires that they should have a 
knowledge of truth's wonderful mystery, but in this 
text he wishes that they might see the glory of that 
fellowship, or communion, enjoyed by those who have 
been initiated into the gospel mysteries. It is a great 
blessing to be able to understand the precepts of the 
"Word, but there is that sweet fellowship, the heavenly 
luxury enjoyed by all the pure in heart, that excels by 
far all other experiences of things that pertain to the 
eternal interests of man. 

Verse 10 — The intent — hina — that, so that. Same 
with John 11 : 15. 

Principalities — angelic beings; empires. Same with 
Chap. 1:21; 6:12. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 89 

Powers — every rank. Same with Chap. 1 : 21 ; 2 : 2 ; 
6:12. 

Made known — same with Chap. 1:9; 3:3; 6 : 19, 21. 

The Church— see Chap. 1 : 22, 23. 

Manifold wisdom— polupoikilos — Many-sided wis- 
dom. Same with Chap. 1:8. "The object of this is 
that God's many-sided wisdom should now, through the 
Church, be made known to the angelic beings on high of 
every rank." — Twentieth Century New Testament. 

"By" or "through Christ" in Verse 9, is an added 
phrase. It is wanting in the older copies. It would 
seem to be out of place here. Paul is not at this time 
extolling or magnifying the extent of Christ's power, 
but is concerned wholly about the extent of the econ- 
omy of grace that should include all peoples. These 
secrets had remained in the "gem case" of the Eter- 
nal Mind. They were understood no more by the 
angels of heaven than by the races of men upon the 
earth. God intended, by the cementing influence of 
love divine and fellowship of the pure, to prove to 
angelic beings of every rank the many-sided skill in 
keeping the hearts of men together. Showing His 
power above the authority of any civil power or 
angelic assistance. 

Verse 11. — According — same with Chap. 1 : 5. 

Eternal purpose — axon — purpose of the ages. 

Purposed — same with Chap. 1 : 11. 

He purposed to make all ages know of His glory 
and fellowship in the redemption of mankind. "Joy 
in heaven," or "in the presence of angels over one 
sinner that repenteth." Why? Because they are edu- 
cated in the same school with men. There is but one 
way in which the mercy of God may be manifested to 
angels; that is in the pardoning grace and love shown 



90 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



to men. Christ linked together men and angels. The 
school in which men are educated for the future pro- 
motion is the same school in which angels receive their 
first knowledge of the gracious gems of salvation which 
have for ages been hidden wholly in the Mind Eternal. 
At the same time that men were raised to understand 
the greatness of God and their right to an heavenly 
inheritance, the eyes of angels followed Christ to this 
world, and for the first time they understood their 
relation to the human brotherhood, and God's mercy 
to fallen and tempted mortals. These angels had to 
pass a probationary trial, or test, as did the intelligent 
creatures of earth. Some of them fell. Others were 
faithful and were brought forth, born of the truth and 
the right, by everlasting righteousness. These are the 
"Church of the firstborn," or "the firstborn 
Church. ' ' Heb. 12 : 23. Angels rejoice over sinners, 
not merely because of sympathy or pity, but because 
of the delights found in growing knowledge. Every 
time a soul is saved through obedience to the law of 
God, they behold the mercy of God, and have an in- 
crease in knowledge with reference to His love These 
angels bend down with eager expectation and observa- 
tion, "desiring to look into the things" made known 
to men. 1 Pet. 1:12. This is why Paul felt that 
other eyes than those of his fellow men were upon him. 
' 'We are a spectacle — tlieatron- — theatre, or public 
show — to the universe, both to angels and to men." 
1 Cor. 4 : 9. This is the reason men have such a sol- 
emn charge; "1 charge thee before God and Christ 
Jesus and the elect angels." 1 Tim. 5:21 

A woman's head covering among the Corinthians 
showed her submissiveness to her own husband. 1 Cor. 
11 : 10. The early Church believed the angels were not 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 



91 



only onlookers, but were actually present with them in 
their assemblies of worship. As the angels of God love 
propriety and order these women were to cover their 
heads to show their power of love and obedience "because 
of the angels." That this is really true, read Heb. 
1:14; Matt. 18:10; Ps. 34:7. Angels are not edu- 
cated through the doctrines of the Church, but through 
the fellowship of a living Church itself. 

Men are confessed or denied before the angels. 
Luke 12 : 8, 9. If we fail in passing to promotion we 
are rebuked by our Teacher, and in the presence of our 
schoolmates — angels. "Saints shall judge angels." 
1 Cor. 6:3. Not the true ones, for there is no law 
against them more than there is against good men. 
Gal. 5 : 22, 23. It is thrpugh the Church that angels 
are instructed. The obedience of the Church in the 
midst of earthly and fleshly difficulties will be a most 
effective witness against those disobedient angels who 
were not true to the Christ, the common Head of all 
in heaven. "Judge" — krino — to set in the right light 
that which is false. To condemn. This word can never 
be used with reference to the approval of those who 
are righteous. The very fact that men in the flesh 
have climbed every barrier, coming up through great 
tribulations and making their garments white through 
the blood of Christ, will be the strongest witness 
against those fallen angels who had even a better 
opportunity than men have had. The good always 
condemns the bad. We may readily understand, then, 
what Paul meant by the "Whole family in heaven and 
earth." Verses 14, 15. Family "in heaven" can not 
mean the redeemed from the earth. For no one has 
gone into heaven yet. John 3:13. It can refer only 
to the faithful angels of whom Christ is the Head. 



3'2 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



"The firstborn Church." Or the congregation of 
faithful ones who had the first conflict and came off 
victorious through obedience to the Christ. 

The angels beheld the wisdom of God in the crea- 
tion, and shouted for joy. Job 38 : 7, but they could 
not know His mercy until Jesus came. A redeemed 
sinner is the wonder of wonders. Angels return from 
traversing the circuits of the universe to congregate 
upon this earthly sphere to learn from the Church the 
love of their Creator in saving sinful men, as they 
have known His power in the creation of worlds. 
Peter's language in 1 Pet. 1:12, will be understood 
more clearly when it is recalled that cherubim and 
seraphim in golden forms bent over the Ark of the 
Covenant, as if they were desiring to learn its mean- 
ing. "Angels desire — epithumed — desire greatly to look 
into — parakupto — to stoop alongside of, to bend over. 
There is much more in the Church of redeemed men 
to attract the train of angelic hosts than there is in 
the material universe of God. Oh. the importance of 
the Church, the body of Christ! 

On the crowns of Oriental princes the most pre- 
cious gems shone "in clusters." So in this wonderful 
scheme of redemption the gems of God's wisdom and 
love cluster around the cross of Him who loved men. 
The angels who through ages were associated with 
God's heavenly workings, were expecting the promised 
wonder — Jesus— but they were too wise to criticise or 
play the skeptic because the Master's time was pro- 
longed. With patience suitable to such characters they 
waited for the time when the veil should be pierced, 
Heb. 10 : 20, and they should behold the hidden mys- 
teries. 

Verse 12. — In whom — Christ our Lord, 



F THE EPISTLE TO THE ECPHESIANS. 93 

Boldness — parrhesia — free utterance. Same with 
" boldness of speech" in 2. Cor. 7:4, and "speaketh 
boldly," John 7:26; and "open my month boldly," 
Chap. 6; 19; and "come boldly," Heb. 4:16. It is 
the same with ' ' confidence ' ' in Acts 28 : 31 ; Heb. 
3:6; 10:35; 1 John 2:28; 3:21; 5:14; and "freely 
speak," Acts 2: 29. 

Access — same with Chap. 2 : 28. 

With confidence — pepoithesis — confident persuasion. 

Faith — same with Chap. 1 : 15. 

Through Christ men are led up to such confidence 
in God that it gives them boldness to accept and de- 
clare saving truths to lost men even in the presence 
of the strongest oppositions. 

"Access" implies a formal introduction into the 
presence of a monarch. The angels assisted in pre- 
senting the Saviour to the world, which was a reward 
for their patience. In the beginning of the day of 
grace, they, with Christ, were presented to men. 
These same patient, faithful watchers are now waiting 
for the revelation of the ' ' sons of God, ' ' Rom. 8 : 19, 
when they shall, with men, be presented to the coming 
Deliverer. In fulfilling His mission, Christ introduced 
angels to men and men to angels. In Him they each 
found the hidden wisdom. Linked together in Him 
they became one brotherhood, and are to be presented 
together before the throne. Men have "access" to 
God through prayer upon the merits of Christ. Luke 
11 : 12. 

Verse 13. — Wherefore — on account of the boldness 
and access to God. Same with Chap. 2 : 11. 

Desire — aiteo — to ask. In the following texts, 
where the word "desire" is found, it has these differ- 
ent meanings, as herein given. Eccl. 6 : 9, nephesh — 



94 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



soul. Same with Gen. 2:7. Ps. 145:16, ratson — 
good pleasure. Job 31 : 35, tav — the mark. Luke 
22 : 15, epithumia — great or over desire. Rom. 10 : 1, 
eudokia — good pleasure. Same with "good pleasure" 
in Chap. 1:5, 9, which see. Chap. 2 : 3, thelema — 
wish, will, willing. 2 Cor. 7 : 7, epipothesis — longing 
after. Acts 28 : 22, axioo — to think worthy. Luke 
22 : 31, exaiteo — to ask excessively. Matt. 16 : 1, epero- 
tao — to ask at or of. Phil. 4 : 17, epizeteo — to seek 
after. Luke 7 : 36, erotao — to ask. 1 Cor. 14 : 1, zeloo 
— to be zealous. Luke 9 : 9, zeteo — to seek. Mark 
9:35, thelo— to wish. 1 Tim. 3:1, and Heb. 11:16, 
oregomai — to stretch the arms for. 2 Cor. 8:6; 12 : 18, 
parakaleo — to call alongside of. Same with ' 'com- 
forted " in Matt. 5:4, and ten other places. 

Faint — ekkaked — to turn out badly, to cave in. 

Tribulations — philipsis — pressure, affection. 

Your glory — same with Chap. 1 : 6. 

Christians are to see to it that they do not turn 
out badly, or allow their mansion of devotion and love, 
diligence and faith, to be "caved in" by the pressure 
of evil influence or by afflictions. Nor should they feel 
faint, or feel like turning aside, or "turning out 
badly" because of the afflictions of any other Chris- 
tians. These same afflictions are "accomplished" — 
epiteleo — fulfilled; taking their last lick at "our 
brethren in the world." 1 Pet. 5:9. Christ re- 
ceived many a stroke, many a stripe, while here on 
earth, but there are some of His stripes and afflictions 
yet behind. They are to be fulfilled, or completed, in 
the Church which is His body. Col. 1 : 24. In the 
fulfilling of these afflictions which are behind, or yet 
to be made up to the Christ, the devil is taking his 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 95 

last ''lick" at the " brethren," the body of Christ 
which must suffer "with Him." 2. Tim. 2:12. 

All that is borne by the faithful soul only adds to 
the credit and honor of manhood's virtue, or is only 
adding another gem to the collection made along the 
way of an earthly life. 

It is said that in Germany there stands a castle, on 
the extremes of which stand two towers. An old 
baron to whom this castle belonged, stretched huge 
wires from one of these towers to the other, thus con- 
structing an aeolian harp. So mighty were these wires 
that no ordinary winds could produce a sound upon 
them. When fierce storms and wild tempests rushed 
down the sides of the mountains and through the val- 
leys, hurling themselves against these wires, they would 
roll out the sweetest and the most majestic strains of 
music conceivable. It is so with the grandest and 
deepest emotions of the human soul. The wilder the 
fury of the tempest, the sweeter the music the faithful 
soul sends forth. 

Verse 14. — For this cause — this is the reason why. 

Bow — kampto — to bend. 

Father, Lord Jesus Christ — see Chap. 1 : 2. 

Who is He? Hs is the Shepherd who is to gather 
from all hills and vales the scattered spirits of men 
and bring them into one fold in His love and grace. 
The great gates of Jerusalem are open and guarded by 
an armed sentinel. The shepherd has led His flock 
away to the hills of Judea, where, upon the sunny 
slope and in the valleys, they feed to their satisfaction. 
The sun sinks gently toward the western horizon. 
Night silently falls upon the landscape. The shepherd 
must seek protection within the gates where his flock 
may be secured from the prowling beasts of the night. 



90 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



See, he goes before; the sheep follow him because they 
know his voice. "A stranger they will not follow. " 
Behold the faithful shepherd leading his flock within 
the gates, and your mind will be carried along to the 
close of our world's day, to the falling shades of eter- 
nity. Behold the world's Redeemer, our great Shep- 
herd, leads His flock away from the ravenous beasts 
of sin to a blessed security within the gates of ''the 
eternal city," our Jerusalem on high. Our Shepherd 
stands before the gate. The armed sentinel steps aside, 
giving Him and flock a welcome reception. "To Him 
the porter openeth." We hear Jehovah say, "Lift up 
your heads, ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlast- 
ing doors, and the King of Glory shall come in." 
Here He shall secure His flock by the stream of never- 
failing waters and in pastures of ever-living greer 

Verse 15. — Of whom — from whom. 

Whole family — pas — all, every one, every part. 
Family — patri — one's son. 

Heaven and earth — see Chap. 1 : 10. 

Named — onomazd — to name, give a name to. Same 
with Chap. 1:21; Luke 6:13. 

Here Paul resumes the prayer started in Verse 1. 
God has but one family, the Church, in heaven and 
earth. This is easily understood when we know what 
Christ meant in Luke 20 : 36. In the resurrection men 
are to be as the angels because they are the children 
of God. Angels are the creatures of God and are 
intelligent and spiritual. They had to pass a trial as 
did the intelligent creatures of earth. Some angels 
fell, but some were faithful and were brought forth, 
born of the truth and the right, by everlasting right- 
eousness, and are the "firstborn" Church. These are 
the Church of God "in heaven." See Verses 10, 11. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIAXS. 



97 



The Church derives its name from the Father Him- 
self. It is not to be called after any man or doctrine. 
See Isa. 44 : 5-7. There being but one family in 
heaven and earth, it is as unlawful for a man to name 
the Church, or any part of it, after doctrines, or men, 
or their customs on earth, as it would be for the angels 
of heaven to divide themselves into factions and give 
to their sects a name. 

The heavenly kingdom is the native land of the 
whole family in earth and heaven. Those here on earth 
are but sojourners. 1 Pet. 1:17. Their citizenship is 
in heaven. Phil. 3 : 20. Hence the law of the same God 
that governs those in heaven must govern those upon 
the earth. For this reason Christ taught His disciples 
to pray '"Thy will be done in earth as in heaven." 

The deepest thoughts of the heart of a man of God 
are sure to come out in prayer when he feels himself 
alone with God. It is here that the real man speaks. 
You may rest assured, too, that whatever a true friend 
prays for another, is in his heart what he feels that 
one to need the most. If you could but hear what that 
friend asks God to give you, you would know at once 
just how you stand in his estimation. 

'''Whole family." As the members of the physical 
body set forth the unity of the man, so does the build- 
ing of the Church show the unity of the Builder's 
design. They have the same Father, hence the unity 
of relationship. The same life, hence the unity of 
nature. 

A flock of sheep may be kept together in two ways. 
By putting a pen around them, or by the nature of 
each individual of the flock which causes them to seek 
the companionship of others. Flocks of sheep do not 
become confounded as to their own shepherd, even 

7 



98 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



without a pen around them. A sheep will not follow a 
strange shepherd except it be sick or has the rickets in 
the head. At such times it will follow anybody or 
thing that has motion. There is mischief in these 
fences. Men must refuse to accept them. Creeds 
define beforehand the limits of opinion, and tell us 
before we begin to inquire what results we are to 
arrive at. This prevents progress. 

The word rendered "family" is from the same root 
as the word rendered "Father." The "whole kin- 
dred," or all those who are descended from this one 
Father. Who would think of representing the Father 
as being divided, or as being many fathers? The 
very thought is repulsive. Why, then, represent His 
Church as divided and named not as He has named it? 

Heaven is the capitol of His dominion. When good 
men leave this sphere they go from a "mere colony" 
lying far out from the seat of government and the 
central city. We have plants in our northern climate 
which grow, but they are natives of a southern land. 
In their native soil they grow taller, their leaves are 
larger, and their blooms more fragrant. In fact, the 
power of the life of the plant is more freely and fully 
expressed. In this world Christian men grow in an 
alien soil and under colder skies. When they are trans- 
planted to their native clime they will reach a large 
and harmonious perfection. 

Men speak of the "communion of saints." Com- 
munion is literally common union, common fellowship, 
oneness. All Christians must have a common union 
with God and with each other. 

Verse 16. — Grant you— didomi — to give. Same with 
"give" in Chap. 1:17. 

According — same with Chap. 1 : 5. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 99 

Riches of His glory — same with Chap. 1 : 18. 

Strengthened — krataioo — to make strong. Same with 
"strong" in Luke 1:80; 2:40. 

Might — same with Chap. 1 : 21. 

Inner man — eso — inside man, inside human being, 
within. Compare with 2 Cor. 4 : 16. Man — anthropos 
— a human being. The up-looking one. 

Paul prayed that they might be strong with power 
in the inside human life that "looks up" to God. 
Human means that which pertains to man — that which 
distinguishes him from the beast. It is a very erro- 
neous idea that declares the spirit of man not human. 
Flesh and blood are human only because they are asso- 
ciated with man. The lower animals have flesh and 
blood similar to that which man has, but they are not 
human as a result of that. The grace and glory of the 
Father can give strength to the inside human being, 
until it will be able to sustain the outside human being 
when it is decaying. 2 Cor. 4 : 16. This inside man 
Peter calls "The hidden man of the heart." 1 Pet. 
3 : 4. The inner man must transform the outer man. 
Must speak through it, must flash out all of its light 
and love through this medium. 

Verse 17. — May dwell — katoiked — to settle down, to 
be at home. 

Hearts — kardia — alluding to the seat of thought, 
source of wit and wisdom. 

Being rooted — rhizoomai — to be rooted, to take root. 
Same with Col. 2 : 7. 

Grounded — themeliod — to lay a foundation. Same 
with Col. 1 : 21. 

When men lay the foundation of their hopes upon 
Christ, the love of God, the balm for all the soul's ills, 
the soul takes a firm hold in the deep glories of im- 



100 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



mortality. The Spirit of the Saviour then settles down 
in the inner sanctuary of the human existence, making 
it His abiding place. He is at home there. He who 
tempts another to sin, tempts that one to shut out the 
Christ. Men should have no contempt for the soul in 
which the Christ is not ashamed to dwell. 

Men often remark, "The devil is in that man," 
because of the way he acts. They may know just as 
certainly when the Christ is at home there, too, because 
of the way he acts. "Greater is He that is within us 
than he that is in the world." The whole universe, 
God and all His works, are summed up in love. It is 
the want of this that is now cursing the world of men. 

"Rooted and grounded." The root draws the life; 
the foundation sustains the edifice. The root grows 
and through it fruit is presented; the foundation gives 
strength for security. The root needs daily and hourly 
supply: the foundation stands in its own completeness. 
The root gives the nature: the foundation holds it 
secure. The foundation gives the intellect its assurance: 
the root supplies the heart with its affections. 

Verse 18. — Be able — exischud — to have full power. 

Comprehend — katalaniband — to receive down, or re- 
ceive fully. To lay hold of, to come up with. Same 
with John 1 : 5, 

All saints — same with Chap. 1 : 1. 

Breadth — platos — width. 

Length — mekos — longness. 

Depth — bathos — the depth, deep things. 

Height — hupsos — the top, summit, sublimity. 

When a soul through faithfulness permits Christ to 
make His home therein, such a soul is enabled to come 
up with and to lay hold of, the surpassing love of God. 
It begins to see the breadth, or wideness, of this love. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 101 

It is seen, then, that God cares for others. His love 
encompasses all the people of earth, every nation in all 
creation. This drives a deadly dart at the heart of 
selfishness. God's love is long. It extends not only to 
those who are in harmony with the principle of purity, 
but reaches to those who oppose him. Yes, even to 
those who oppose themselves. 2 Tim. 2 : 25. To those 
who bless and those who curse. This love associates 
with the heart that is a friend along the way of life, 
and follows it with tenderest sympathy when it becomes 
an enemy. "Love never faileth." This love drives to 
the deepest depth of the soul's anguish. It reaches 
the lowest in sin. From the deepest gulf of sin to the 
highest plane of perfection this love extends. There 
is no end to the love of Christ, yet the vastness of its 
power and its greatness, combined with its humility 
and condescension, is something that surpasses human 
knowledge. Its reigning sceptre is held out where the 
Christ dwells, and its resurrection power is with the 
faithful dead. 

Verse 19. — Know the love of Christ — see Chap. 
1 : 3, 4. 

Passeth knowledge — huperballo — to cast over, to 
surpass; gnosis — to know. That which passes human 
understanding. 

Be filled — same with Chap. 1 : 23. 

Fullness — same with Chap. 1 : 10. 

The following is the Twentieth Century Translation 
of these Verses 14-19 : 

, "This, then, is the reason why, when I kneel before 
the Father — from whom all 'fatherhood' in the heaven 
and on the earth derives its name — I pray that in the 
wealth of His glory He will strengthen you with His 
power by breathing His Spirit into your very souls, so 



102 BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



that, as the result, the Christ in His love may, by means 
of your faith, make His home in your hearts ; and I ask 
that, when firmly rooted and established, you may, in 
company with all Christ's people, have the power to 
grasp, in all its width and length and height and depth, 
and to understand — though it is beyond understanding — 
[now] what the love of the Christ is, so that you may 
be filled to the full with God Himself." 

The word "with" is from eis, meaning with a view 
to, or in order to. Paul's meaning is this: "That you 
might be filled with this love in view 01 the fullness 
of God." We have but the earnest of our inheritance 
here. Chap. 1 : 14. We can not receive God 's fullness 
here, or we would have the full benefits of our future 
heavenly home and inheritance here on earth. Being 
filled with God's love will bring us to the sphere of 
His fullness. It is not the fullness of God we are to 
be filled with here, but filled with love in view of the 
fullness of His glory reserved in heaven for the pure 
in heart. See Verse 15. That which Christ, through 
love, has gone to prepare, we, through love, shall be 
prepared to enjoy. 

Verse 20. — Able — dunamai — to be powerful, to have 
power. Compare with Verse 18 and Luke 1 : 20. 

Exceedingly abundantly above — huper eh perissou — 
over, above. 

Ask — aiteo — to ask for that which is craved. Same 
with Luke 1: 63. Same with "desire" in Verse 13. 

Think — noeo — to ponder, conceive, understand. 
Same with "understand" in Verse 4 and Matt. 15: 17; 
16:9, 11; 24:15; Mark 13:14; John 12:40; Rom. 
1:20; 1 Tim. 1:7; Heb. 11:3. 

According to — same with Chap. 1 : 19. 

Worketh — same with Chap. 1 : 11. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 103 

By the power of the same love that works in the 
Christian, making him feel obedient to God and akin 
to his f ellowman, God does for him above all that which 
he conld crave, conceive, or understand. He can do all 
that you ask, all that you think, above all you ask or 
think, abundantly above all you ask or think, exceed- 
ingly abundantly above all you ask or think. 

-Verse 21. — Unto Him — the Father 

Be glory — same with Chap. 1:6. 

The Church. See Chap. 1 : 22, 23. 

All ages — all generations. Same with Chap. 2 : 7. 

World without end — ton aionos ton uionon — age 
upon age, or age after age, or through the ages. 

In the Church, all credit and honor belong to Christ 
through all generations, because He built the Church, 
is its foundation, its Head and its lawgiver. Sitting in 
heavenly places with Christ, the Church reflects the 
beams of glory and love from the face of the Sun of 
Kighteousness, 2 Cor. 4 : 6, into the path of benighted 
mortals at her feet. Being one with Him, whatever 
finds exercise in Him finds exercise in His body, the 
Church. He can not withhold this exercise from any 
one who is one with Him. This Christ meant when He 
said, "The glory which Thou hast given Me I have 
given them." John 17:22. 

Here we are in the midst of the wonders of all ages. 
The disclosure of God's mysterious plans overwhelm us 
with the greatness of their scope and the magnitude 
of the splendor of the divine character behind them. 
In Christ is the center of all men and angels. Heaven 
and earth are under the management of one Head. 
From this central life all men are to receive their 
impulse ; are to walk and live under the power of this 
exalted fellowship. The great salvation thought out in 



104 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



the mind of God in heaven ages ago must now become 
a personal salvation which terminates in that collective 
salvation of all social spirits in Christ. He who is the 
"new man" now becomes the living bond for all man- 
kind. It is the song of the universe in which heaven 
and earth join in harmony. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE BPHESIANS. 



105 



CHAPTEE IV. 

Verse 1.— Therefore — oun — now, then. 
Prisoner — same with Chap. 3 : 1. 
Of — en — in. 

Beseech — Parakaleo — to call to one 's side. Same with 
"desire" in Verse 13. 

Walk worthy — axios — worthily. 

Vocation — Mesis — a calling. Legal summons. 

Called — kaleomai — to be called. 

Why is one-half of this epistle made up of exhor- 
tations? Because the best of men need them. "Walk 
worthily of God." 1 Thess. 2:12. Called unto holi- 
ness. 1 Thess. 4 : 7. 

Divinity is the profession of the preacher. 

Medicine is the profession of the physician. 

Arms is the profession of the soldier. 

Men are supposed to devote their time to their call- 
ing or profession. Holiness of life is the profession of 
the Christian. Christians must follow it. Heb. 12 : 14. 

"The end of the law is love out of a pure heart and 
of a good conscience and of faith unfeigned." 1 Tim. 
1 : 5. Purity is uncompounded. It can not be analyzed. 
It is the "end of the law." "Wisdom from above is 
first pure." Jas. 3 : 17. 

Conscience. The word from which this is taken in 
the text is suneidesis — a knowing of one's self. But the 
word "conscience" — con scia — knowing self with an- 
other. It was given that man might know himself in 
relation to God. He can only know himself as he really 



106 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



is, when he knows himself in the light of God's revela- 
tion to him. Man knows what he is in proportion as he 
becomes what he ought to be. The end for which a 
man acts must be his own. In this none may have a 
share. That is not virtue which waits on another's 
help, or follows only because others have gone that 
way. Alone and single-handed, deserted and derided, 
virtue's eye is clear, its look is steady, its step is firm 
in the path of duty as if thousands were by its side. 
Virtue looks straight ahead without inquiry as to 
where the multitudes are going. True dignity is sus- 
tained in no other way than the convictions of one's 
inner life. Otherwise a man renounces his manhood 
and voluntarily takes the place of an animal, to be 
used by others. When a msn loses this dignity, he 
fights not to sustain character as he professes to do, 
but to sustain the deception in the minds of others. 

Verse 2. — All lowliness — topeinophrosune — lowliness 
of mind. Same with Phil. 2:3. In classic Greek the 
meaning is ' ' meanness of sx>irit. ' ' Here it means ' ' lowly 
of one's self." 

Meekness — praotes — mildness. 

Longsuffering — makrothumia — forbearing ; to suff er 
long. 

Forbearance — anechomai — to hold self back or up. 

The Spirit of the Christ gives an humble mind and 
gentle disposition which will hold self back through 
love and care for others. Heaven must be taken by 
* ' violence, ' ' Matt. 11 : 12, but earth is to be taken by 
meekness. 

Verse 3. — Endeavoring — spoudazo — to make haste, 
make speed. 

To keep — tered — to watch, to observe. Same with 
" watched" and "watching" in Matt. 27:36, 54. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 107 

Unity of spirit — henotes — unanimity. Same with 
Verse 13. The unity which the Spirit gives. 

Bond — sundesmos — joint-bond. That which binds 
together. In surgery, "a ligament." In grammar, "a 
conjunction. ' ' 

Peace — same with Chap. 1 : 2. 

Christians should make haste to locate and to keep 
out of their midst anything which would hinder the 
concord or harmony the Spirit gives. Unity of spirit 
is the result of the similarity of nature, or life. See 
2 Pet. 1 : 4. 

Endeavoring. Literally, earnestly, or zealously ; giv- 
ing diligence to maintain, not entertain, the unity 
among men which the Spirit gives. By doing this, men 
will "Mark them which cause division." Rom. 16:17. 

Joint-bond. Taken from the manner of binding 
prisoners together to keep them from getting away or 
separating from each other. 

Unity can subsist only between things not similar, 
things unlike each other, yet coursed by the same life. 
There is no unity in the mass of pebbles which form the 
sand pile. They are similar. They are simply a mass. 
They can form no unity. Take away any number of 
grains of the sand and a complete mass remains. There 
is no unity in a flock of sheep. Here is but a repeti- 
tion of a number of things which are similar to each 
other. Take away a number and no unity is lost. 
Five is as much a flock of sheep as is a thousand. 

Unity is made up of dissimilar members. The 
physical body is used by Paul to represent this unity. 
1 Cor. 12. Each member is deficient within itself. 
Each member must receive help from, and give help 
to all other members of the same body. The arm is 
very unlike the eye, but cut the arm off and the unity 



108 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



of the body is gone. Only a remnant of the whole 
remains. Each member is directed by the life that is 
the life of all the members, and not the life of itself 
or any other member of the body. There is unity in 

an army. 

In the mineral kingdom all is governed by the same 
law, yet one mineral throws off its crystals in the shape 
of hexagons, while another throws off pentagons. The 
law is the same, but the development varies according 
to environment, or the nature of the mineral substance 
with which these crystals come in contact. External 
Church unity will never appear until we observe this 
universal law and understand from whence the diffi- 
culties arise. Men are yearning for a remedy for the 
cause of confusion, but they frame projects larger or 
smaller, for unity, according to their better or baser 
ideas. 

God calls not for uniformity. "We have enough of 
that in the graveyard, and that is not the work of 
God. God's work is unity in variety. God's wisdom 
is "many sided." Chap. 3: 10. One force throws out, 
another draws in. Once force pushes upward, another 
pulls downward. There is but one principle, that for 
the good of all creation. The same principle caused 
God to grant little light to Moses, and more to the 
prophets, and the greater to the apostles. Why? Be- 
cause this principle requires that the object proposed 
to the faculty must be proportioned to the faculty. A 
truth proposed to man's intelligence must be in pro- 
portion to that intelligence. Men must love God with 
all of their powers, yet this love is regulated by the 
ideas men have of God. More or less pure as the mind 
is neglected or enlightened. Destroy the center of a 
system, and the whole system is destroyed. If men 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 109 

fail to recognize Christ as the center of Christianity, 
for them the whole Christian system will be destroyed. 
To be "of cne accord " does not mean that all shall 
do the same thing, more than the hand does as the foot 
should do. Each member draws the same life from the 
same Head. Hence no member, when rightly directed, 
can do anything which will antagonize or injure an- 
other member of the same body. In a choir of musi- 
cians we do not expect all to use the violin. No one 
with sense could wish a whole band of flutes. One 
musician may know nothing about another's instru- 
ment; yet when each one plays as he should all is 
harmony. 

One may have no pain in his hand or foot, but his 
head aches; where then is the harmony of that body? 
There can be unity in nothing but truth and right. 
All things which are true and right must harmonize. 
Bad men may combine for some purpose, but they 
can not unite. None but true men can unite. 

Verse 4.— One body. See Chap. 1 : 22, 23. 

One spirit. It has but one unity, but one bond of 
peace and love. Keep it in this bond. 

Are called — same with Verse 1. 

One hope — same with Chap. 1 : 18. 

Your calling — same with Chap. 1 : 18. See Verse 1. 

There is but one body or church from the simple 
fact that there is but one Spirit to dwell therein. 
The spirit which animates with one will, the otherwise 
inert matter, makes the one body. Without this spirit 
it is not a body, it is but a corpse. Jas. 2 : 26. 

But one hope. All Christians have the same hope 
of immortality. This is to be made fully manifest in 
Christ in the eternal state. Hence men should recog- 
nize but one body, or Church, in Him. There is but 



110 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



one Church as there is but one hope. Christ is our 
hope. 1 Tim. 1:1. He is the Head. There can be 
no more churches than hopes; no more bodies than 
heads. 

The church is a society for the abolition of sin and 
death. That this one rolling body, Dan. 2 : 35, shall 
roll onward, enlarging until it fills the whole world, 
is the "hope of our calling. With this hope within 
us and its end in view, but one body should be recog- 
nized in order that the world the Church is trying to 
save, might believe in Christ unto their salvation. 
John 17:21-23. 

Verse 5. — One Lord — or Master. Same with 
Chap. 1 : 2. 

One faith — same with Chap. 1 : 15. 

One baptism — taptisma — one dipping, one immer- 
sion. 

Verse 6. — God and Father — see Chap. 1 : 2. 

Above all — epi — upon all, over all. 

Through all — dia — from end to end. 

"To God who rules over all, works through all, and 
lives in all." — Twentieth Century New Testament. 

There is but one Master, and He is the only One 
in whom to place confidence. There is but one Chris- 
tian baptism observed in the name of the one Christ. 
But one Father, hence all Christians are all of one 
family. God is above His Church as a covert in the 
time of storm. He is through the Church from end to 
end, as Inspector of its needs. He is in all, or in each 
member of this body as a real living power. 

There are seven elements of unity here enumerated 
in the plan for the oneness of all Christians. One 
Body; one Spirit; one Hope; one Lord; one Faith; 
one Baptism ; and one God and Father of all. Linking 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. Ill 



into each other these form a chain that circles the 
universe, and which represents the perfection of the 
redemption scheme. 

These elements resolve themselves into the Trinity; 
Spirit, Lord and Father of all. The Spirit and Lord 
Christ, are each accompanied by two uniting elements. 
In one spirit are we inducted into the one body. 1 
Cor. 12 : 13. Through the fellowship of one spirit we 
are brought into communion with God, which gives us 
one hope reaching beyond the mortal veil into the 
unseen. Heb. 6:9: 

One Lord. The spirit's eye is turned from all other 
lords to the One Christ of God. 

One faith — see Verse 13. 

One baptism. No one has been legally baptized ex- 
cept those who have found the "one baptism" and 
observed it, more than one is a true believer who has 
not found the "one Christ" and believed in. Him. To 
be baptized into the name of the reigning Lord, is to be 
baptized as He has directed. There can be but one 
baptism. Find that "one" and observe it. 

The Saviour Lord occupies the position between 
"faith and hope." With one hand He lifts the penitent 
out of sin; with the other He points to the eternal 
glories in the presence of the Father. By present faith 
we live in view of the "hope set before us." He is 
also mentioned here between the Father and the Spirit, 
His proper place in the unity of the God-head. 

One baptism. "For — en — in one spirit are we all 
baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, 
whether we be bond or free; and have been all made 
to drink into one spirit. ' ' 1 Cor. 12 : 13. 

"For as many of you as have been baptized into 
Christ have put on Christ" Gal. 3:27, 



112 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



"Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, 
except a man be born of the water and of the Spirit, 
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. ' ' John 3 : 5. 

"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized 
into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? There- 
fore we are buried with Him by baptism into death; 
that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by 
the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk 
in newness of life. For if we have been planted to- 
gether in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in 
the likeness of His resurrection." Rom. 6: 3-5. 

The word "baptize" is, properly speaking, a Greek 
word, — baptize- — adapted to the English language by a 
change in its termination. This is the word used by 
the writers of inspiration to express and define the 
ordinance. Divine Wisdom has used a word of posi- 
tive and definite meaning, and one whose import 
would naturally admit of no doubt. "What does it 
mean? May we appeal to those who know the language 
to which this word belongs? 

"To dip, to immerse, as we do anything for the 
purpose of dying it." — Scapula. 

"Properly, it signifies to dip, to immerse, to im- 
merse in ivater." — Schleusner. 

"To baptize, to merge, to bathe." — Sclirevelius. 

"To dip, immerse, or plunge in water." — Parkhurst. 

"To immerse, immerge, submerge, sink." — Green- 
field. 

"To dip, immerse, to cleanse or purify by wash- 
ing. ' ' — Green. 

"To merge or immerse, to submerge, or bury in 
water. ' ' — Stevens. 

"To baptize signifies only to immerse, not to wash, 
except by consequence." — Alstidius. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 113 



"To merge, immerse, to wash, to bathe." — Schottgen. 
"Properly, it means to dip or immerse in water." — 
Stockius. 

"To immerse, to sink." — Robinson. 

"Baptizo, to dip, to immerse, to sink." — Sophocles. 

"The primary meaning of the word is to dip, to 
immerse. ' ' — Athon. 

"Baptizo, immerse, submersion, for a religious pur- 
pose." — Cremer. 

"To immerse, submerge, to overwhelm. — Grim's 
Lexicon of the New Testament. 

"Baptize means to dip, plunge or immerse into any 
liquid. All lexicographers and critics of any note are 
agreed in this." — Moses Stuart. 

"To baptize is to immerse or dip, the body, or 
part of the body which is to be baptized, going under 
water. 7 ' — Rosenmuller. 

"To baptize is to plunge, to dip." — Wetstein. 

"To baptize signifies to plunge." — Vossius. 

"The native and proper signification of it is, to dip 
into water, or to plunge under water." — Leigh. 

"The word baptism is of Greek origin, which sig- 
nifies to baptize, to dip into, to immerse." — Turretin. 

"Christ commanded us to be baptized, by which 
word it is certain immersion is signified." — Beza. 

"The word baptize signifies to immerse; and the 
rite of immersion was observed by the ancient Church." 
—Calvin. Inst., B. 4, Ch. 15, Sec. 19. 

"It can not be denied that the native signification 
of the word baptism, is to plunge, to dip."—Witsius. 

"The term baptism is a Greek word. It may be 
rendered a dipping, when we dip something in water, 
that it may be entirely covered with water." — Luther. 
Cited by Du Veile on Acts 8 : 38. 



114 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



4 'To baptize, to dip one into water, to plunge one 
into the water." — Wilson. 

11 The word baptizein, both in sacred authors and in 
classical, signifies to dip, to plunge, to immerse; and 
was rendered by Tertullian, the oldest of the Latin 
fathers, ting ere, the term used for dyeing cloth, which 
was by immersion." Campbell. (Presb.) 

"The custom of the ancient Church was not sprink- 
ling, but immersion; in pursuance of the sense of the 
word in the commandment, and the example of our 
blessed Saviour." — Bp. Taylor. Com. Matt. 3:16. 

"Christ submitted to be baptized, that is, to be 
buried under water, and to be raised out of it again, as 
an emblem of His future death and resurrection. — Mac- 
knight. Epist. Rom. 6 : 3, 4. 

"That the baptism of John was the immersion of 
the body, in which manner both the ablutions of un- 
clean persons and the baptism of proselytes were per- 
formed, seems evident from those things which are 
related to it; namely, that he baptized in Jordan, and 
in Enon, because there was much water; and that 
Christ, being baptized, went up out of the water." — 
Light foot. The most distinguished and influential mem- 
ber of the Westminster Assembly, on Matt. 6 : 6. 

"Jesus being baptized, no sooner rose out of the 
water, than heaven was opened to Him." — Dr. Camp- 
bell. 

"A great part of those who went out to hear John 
were baptized, that is, dipped in the Jordan." — Poole. 
Annot. on Matt. 3 : 6. 

"The one part of the action — the submersion — rep- 
resents the negative aspect, the taking away of the old 
man; the other — the emersion — denotes the positive 
aspect, the appearance of the new man." — Olshausen, 
(Luth.) Com. Rom. 6:3, 4. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 115 

"The mode of John's baptism has been, and still is 
much discussed, but the practice of the Eastern Church, 
and the very meaning of the word (baptizo) leaves no 
sufficient ground for questioning that the original form 
of baptism was complete immersion in the deep bap- 
tismal waters." — Dean Stanley. "History of Eastern 
Church." 

"He led them in groups to the Jordan, and im- 
mersed each singly in the waters, after earnest and full 
confession of all their sins." — Geikie. "Life and Words 
of Christ," Vol. 1, p. 405. 

" Baptizein undoubtedly signifies immersion. No 
proof can be found that it means anything else in the 
New Testament, and in the most ancient Christian lit- 
erature. The suggestion regarding a 'sacred sense,' 
is out of the question." — Prof. Harnack, in Inde- 
pendent, Feb. 19, 1885. 

"Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan, unto 
John, to be baptized of him." Matt. 3 : 13. 

"And John was baptizing in Enon, near to Salim, 
because there was much water there. ' ' John 3 : 25. 

Why resort to a place where there is much water? 

Calvin, who is pronouncel by Scaliger as the most 
learned man in Europe, says, "From these words of 
John 3 : 23, it may be inferred that baptism was admin- 
istered, by John and Christ, by plunging the whole 
body under water." Com. John 3:23. 

"Many waters; so the rite of immersion required." 
Bengel. Com. John 3 : 23. 

"It is apparent that both Christ and John baptized 
by dipping the body in the water, else they need not 
have sought places where had been a great plenty of 
water." — Toole. Annot. John 3: 23. 

"Because there was much water there in which their 



116 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PIOTUKES 



whole bodies might be dipped." — Whitby. Crit. Com. 
John 3 : 23. 

"As the Jewish custom required the persons to 
stand in water, and having been instructed, and en- 
tered into a covenant to renounce all idolatry, and 
take the God of Israel for their God, then plunged 
themselves under the water ; it is probable that the 
rite was thus performed." — Adam Clarke. Com. John 
3 : 23. 

"And they went down both into the water, both 
Philip and the Eunuch, and he baptized him. And 
when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit 
caught away Philip." Acts 8:38, 39. 

Of this Calvin says: "Here we perceive how bap- 
tism was administered among the ancients; for they 
immersed the whole body in water." — On Baptism, 
Ch. 3, p. 56. 

"For what need would there have been of Philip 
and the Eunuch going into this (the water), were it 
not that the baptism was to be performed by immer- 
sion?" — Dr. Towerson. Com. Acts. 8:38. 

"But that this customary rite was performed by 
immersion, and not by pouring, is indicated both by the 
proper signification of the word, and the places chosen 
for the rite." — Grotius — one of the most illustrious 
names in literature, says his biographer. Annot. 
Matt. 3 : 6. 

"It is without controversy, that baptism in the 
primitive Church was administered by immersion in 
water, and not by sprinkling, seeing that John is said 
to have baptized in Jordan, and where there was much 
water, as Christ also did by His disciples in the neigh- 
borhood of those places. Philip, also, going down into 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHE'SXANS. 117 



the water, baptized the Eunuch. — Venema. Eccl. Hist., 
Ch. 1, Sec. 138. 

"The proper signification of baptizo is to immerse, 
plunge under, to overwhelm in water." — Zanchius, 
whose opinion, De Courcy declares, "is worth a thou- 
sand others." Works, Yol. 6, p. 217. Geneva, 1619. 

"The custom of ancient churches was not sprink- 
ling, but immersion. — Bp. Taylor. 

"It can not be denied that the native signification 
of the word baptein, and baptzein, is to plunge or dip." 
— Witsius. Econ. Cov. p. 1213. 

"The term baptism is Greek. In Latin it may be 
translated immersio; since we immerse anything into 
water, that the whole may be covered with water. — 
Luther, the great Reformer. "Works, Vol. 1, p. 74. 
Wit. Ed. 1582. 

"Baptism is immersion into water, which is made 
with the admirable benediction." — Melancthon, the 
Greek scholar, and companion of Luther. Melanct. 
Catec, Wit. 1580. 

"The party to be baptized was wholly immersed, or 
put under water." — Cave. In his Christian Antiquities. 

11 Baptism, or an immersion into water, according to 
the ancient rite of administering it, is a figure of our 
burial with Christ, and of our conformity to His 
death." — Bp. Sherlock. 

"There was no such thing as sprinkling used in the 
apostle's days, nor for many ages after them." — Mede. 
Dis. on Tit. 3 : 5. 

The act of baptizing is the immersion of the be- 
lievers in ivater. This expresses the force of the 
word." — Vitringa. Aphorism, 884. 

"That baptism used to be performed by immersion, 
and not pouring, appears by the proper signification 



118 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



of the word, and by the places chosen for the admin- 
istration of the rite." — Grotius. Annot. Matt. 3:6; 
John 3 : 23. 

"To baptize signifies to plunge, as is granted by 
all the world." — Bp. Bossuet. Stennett against Russen, 
p. 174. 

"Baptized — that is to say, ducked in the water, 
for a sacred sign and seal of the expiation and remis- 
sion of sins." — Diodati. Annot. Matt. 3:6. 

"In the primitive times the manner of baptizing 
was by immersion, or dipping the whole body into 
water." — Samuel Clark. Exp. Ch. Catec, p. 294, Ed. 6. 

"The water solidifies so readily around everything 
that is baptized into it." — Strobo. 

"Call the old Expiatrix, and baptize thyself into the 
sea. ' ' — Plutarch. 

"Then bravely baptizing himself into the lake Co- 
pias. ' ' — Plutarch. 

"They baptize into the water, therefore, a pole." — 
Achilles Tatius. 

"And was baptized of John into the Jordan." — 
Matthew. 

"There is here plainly a reference to the ancient 
mode of baptism by immersion." — Bloom field. (Epis.) 
Gr. New Test. Expo. Rom. 6:4. 

"What led him to the Jordan was his business as a 
baptizer. This action, consisting in complete immer- 
sion." — Holtzman. (Presb.) 

"And were baptized, immersed, in the Jordan." — 
Lange. (Luth.) 

"John had chosen the Jordan because there was 
enough water for the customary baptism, and at the 
fords much people were passing." — Grass. (Rom. Cath.) 

"That this rite was performed, not by sprinkling, 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 119 



but by immersion, is indicated by the peculiarity of the 
name, the places chosen for its observance, and the 
many allusions of the apostles, which can not be re- 
ferred to sprinkling." — Hugo Grotius. (Arminian.) 

"John extends ablution to complete immersion; that 
is really baptism, dipping in deep." — Riggenbach. 
(Presb.) 

"And I myself am one of those baptized by that 
great wave." — Libanius. Epist. 25. 

"We are buried ivith Him. Alluding to the ancient 
manner of baptizing by immersion." — Wesley. Notes. 

"Immersion which takes place in baptism, signifies 
and expresses, as has been said, the burial of Christ. " — 
Chancellor Est. (Rom. Cath.) 

"This passage (Rom. 6:4), can not be understood 
unless it be borne in mind that the primitive baptism 
was by immersion." — Conybeare and Hoivson. (Episc.) 

"Baptism consists in the immersion of the whole 
body in water." — Scholz. 

"Immersion, and not sprinkling was unquestionably 
the original form." — Schaff. (Presb.) 

"The language of the New Testament and of the 
primitive fathers sufficiently point to immersion as the 
common mode of baptism." — Prof. Browne. Smith's 
Bible Diet., Art Bap. 

"It only remains to be observed that baptism, in the 
primitive Chiwch, was evidently immersion of the body 
in water." — Dr. Jacobs. 

"Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism 
into death. ' ' Rom. 6 : 4. 

"Buried with Him in baptism." Col. 2:12. 

"Our baptism or submersion was a symbol of our 
death to sin and our resurrection to newness of life." — 
Lewin. (Episc.) Life and Epist. of Paul, p. 542. 



120 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



"Holy baptism is the outward, visible sign of water, 
in which, in those days, one was immersed, or, as it 
were, buried; the sign, indeed, of our dying and rising 
again." — Bp. Colenso. (Episc.) Epist. to the Rom. 

"In baptism our sins are drowned and buried. 
We renounce them and are delivered from them, and 
leave them there as the Israelites did their enemies, 
the Egyptians, in the depths of the Red Sea." — Bp. 
Wordsworth. (Episc.) The Holy Bible, with notes 
and Intro. 

"When ye were immersed into the water by bap- 
tism, ye were ingrafted into the death of Christ." — 
Zivingle. Annot. Rom. 6 : 4. 

"For in the Greek to be baptized is the same as 
to be submerged." — Maldonatus. Com. Matt. 20:22; 
Luke 12 : 50. 

"Down into the water with those they baptize, and 
come up again." — Hermas, 95 A. D. Stennett vs. 
Russen, p. 143. 

"Washed in the water in the name of the Father, 
Son and Spirit." — Justin Martyr, 140 A. D. Apol. 
Sees. 79, 85, 86. 

"There seems no reason to doubt [with Eadie] that 
both here — Col. 2 : 12 — and in Rom. 6:6, there is an 
allusion to the immersion and emersion in the baptism." 
— Bp. Elliott. (Episc.) Com. on Col. 

"This sprinkling, which appears to have first come 
generally into use in the thirteenth century, in place 
of entire immersion of the body." — Van Oosterzee. 
(Presb.) Christ. Dog., p. 749. 

"The person to be baptized is let down into the 
water, and, with a few words said, is dipped." — Ter- 
iullian. A. D. 204. 

"We are buried with Christ by baptism, that we 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 121 



may also rise with Him." — Gregory, A. D. 360. Sten- 
nett's reply, p. 144. 

4 'Thou saidst, I do believe, and wast immersed in 
water; that is, thou wast buried." — Ambrose, A. D. 
374. Stennett's reply to Russen, p. 144. 

"To be baptized and plunged into the water, and 
then emerge and rise again, is a symbol of our descent 
into the grave and our ascent out of it." — Chrysostom, 
A. D. 398. Horn. 40 on 1 Cor., p. 186. 

<( Baptism is immersion, and was formerly celebrated 
according to the force and meaning of the name. Now 
it is only rantism, or sprinkling, not immersion, nor dip- 
ping."— Salmasius. Wolf. Crit. Matt. 28:19. 

"In this century [the first] baptism was adminis- 
tered in convenient places without the public assem- 
blies, and by immersing the candidate wholly in water." 
— Mosheim. Eccl. Hist., B. 1, Cent. 1, part 2, chap. 4. 

"So far as it respects the mode and manner of out- 
ward baptizing, there can be no doubt that immersion, 
and not sprinkling, was the original normal form." — 
Schaff. Hist. Christ. Ch., p. 488, Mercer Edit. 

"And this immersion being religiously observed by 
all Christians for thirteen centuries, and approved by 
our Church — Church of England." — Dr. Whitby. An- 
not. Rom. 6 : 4. 

"Several authors have shown and proved that this 
manner of immersion continued, as much as possible, 
to be used, for thirteen hundred years after Christ." — 
Dr. Stockhouse. Hist, of Bible, B. 8, chap. 1. 

"Thirteen hundred years was baptism generally and 
orderly performed by the immersion of the person un- 
der water, and only in extraordinary cases was sprink- 
ling, or affusion, permitted. These later methods of 



122 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



baptism were called in question, and even prohibited." 
— Dr. Brenner. Hist. Exhibit. Bapt., p. 306. 

"Immersion in water was general until the thir- 
teenth century among the Latins ; it was then displaced 
by sprinkling, but retained by the Greeks." — Von Colin. 
Hist. Doct., Vol. 2, p. 303. 

"From the thirteenth century sprinkling came into 
more general use in the West. The Greek Church, 
however, and the Church of Milano still retained the 
practice of immersion." — Hagenbctch. Hist. Doct., 
Vol. 2, p. 84, Note 1. 

"As this — dipping — was the original apostolic prac- 
tice, so it continued the universal practice of the Church 
for many ages." — Bingham. Antiq. Christ. Ch., B. 11, 
chap. 2. 

1 ' The practice of immersion continued until the thir- 
teenth or fourteenth century. Indeed, it has never 
been formally abandoned." — Ancient Christ, chap. 19, 
Sec. 12. 

"Whatever weight, however may be those reasons, 
as a defense for the present practice of sprinkling, it is 
evident that during the first ages of the Church, and 
for many centuries afterwards, the practice of immer- 
sion prevailed." — Encyclo. Ecclesiastica. Art. Bapt. 

"In the fourth century special buildings for this 
holy ordinance [baptism] began to appear, either en- 
tirely separate, or connected with the main church by 
a covered passage. The need of them rose partly from 
the still prevalent custom of immersion." — S chaff. 
Hist. Christ. Ch., Vol. 2, pp. 558, 559, Sec. 108. 

"The baptisteries," says Murdock, "were a sort of 
cistern in which the candidates were baptized by im- 
mersion." — Mosh. Eccl. Hist., Vol. 1, p. 281, note 15. 

"That baptism in the beginning was by immersion 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 123 



we know from the narratives of the New Testament. 
The person to be baptized descended several steps into 
the reservoir of water, and then the whole body was 
immersed under water." — Hagenbach. Hist Christ. 
Ch., chap. 19, p. 324. 

"The first baptistery, or place appropriated to bap- 
tism, of which any mention is made, occurs in a biog- 
raphy of the fourth century, and this was prepared 
in a private house." — Coleman. Ancient Christ. Ex- 
emplified, chap. 19, Sec. 10 

"The baptistery was entirely distinct from the 
church up to the end of the sixth century; after which 
period the interior of the church received it." — Brande. 
Diet. Arts, Sci. and Lit., Art. Baptistery. 

"Baptism by immersion continued to be the pre- 
vailing practice of the Church as late as the fourteenth 
century." — Doellinger, Ch. Hist, p. 294. 

"Do you see; beloved, how the prophets spake be- 
fore time of the purifying power of baptism? For he 
who comes down in faith to the laver of regeneration, 
and renounces the devil, and joins himself to Christ; 
. . . comes up from the baptism brilliant as the sun, 
flashig forth the beams of righteousness." — Hippolytus. 
A. D. 170. Discourse on the Holy Theophany. 

"But after that, by the help of the water of new 
birth, the stain of former years had been washed away, 
and a light from above, serene and pure, had been 
infused into my reconciled heart — after that, by the 
agency of the Spirit breathed from heaven, a second 
birth had restored me to a new man." — Cyprian. 
A. D. 200. Epist, of Cyprian. 

"And such as is the union of the Word with bap- 
tism, is the agreement of milk with water; for it 
receives it alone of all. liquids, and admits of mixture 



124 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



with water, for the purpose of cleansing, as baptism for 
the remission of sins. 9 ' — Instructor Ante Nicene Fathers, 
Vol. 2, p. 222. 

4 'There is to us one, and but one, baptism; one God t 
and one baptism, and one church in the heavens. "We 
enter, then, the font once; once are sins washed away, 
because they ought never to be repeated. But the 
Jewish Israelite bathes daily, because he is daily being 
defiled; for fear that defilement should be practiced 
among us also, therefore was the definition touching 
the one bathing made/' — Tertullian. Baptism, chap. 15. 

After this statement of the one dipping, it would be 
well to allow the same early writer to state how more 
than one dipping came to be practiced. 

' ' When we are going to enter the water, but a little 
before, in the presence of the congregation and under 
the hand of the president, we solemnly profess that we 
disown the devil, and his pomp, and his angels. Here- 
upon we are thrice immersed, making a somewhat 
ampler pledge than the Lord has appointed in the 
gospel." — The Chaplet, or De Corona, chap. 3. 

It is here that they certainly ''jumped over the house 
to unlock the little gate." 

It would be profitable just here to have a historical 
statement regarding the beginning of the practice of 
sprinkling. 

The first authenticated instance of such a departure 
was about the middle of the third century, or A. D. 
250. This was in the case of Novatian. Of this Euse- 
bius, the historian, declares: "He fell into a grievous 
distemper, and, it being supposed that he would die 
immediately, he received baptism, being besprinkled 
with water on the bed whereon he lay, if that can be 
termed baptism." — Eccl. Hist., B. 6, chap. 43. 



OF TWsu EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 125 



Baptizo is found eighty times in the New Testament, 
and is derived from bapto. It is nearly always used to 
designate the ordinance of baptism. Bapiisma is found 
twenty-two times, and baptismos, four times, both being 
from baptizo. Not one time does either of these terms 
signify anything else but to dip, or plunge. 

Bapto is found three times, and also means to dip, 
but is never used to describe baptism. The reason is 
because it has other meanings as well as that of 
dipping. If such a term as this should have been used 
the nature of the ordinance might have been misunder- 
stood. Baptizo does not mean a washing, but simply a 
dipping into water. Any word that means more than 
that would confuse the mind if it were used with ref- 
erence to this ordinance. 

Louo is found six times, and means to wash; to 
wash the whole body; to bathe. If baptism means to 
wash, this word would have been just the one to have 
used. But this word is never applied to baptism. 

Nipto is found seventeen times, and means also to 
wash, to wash the extremities, as the hands, face or 
feet. But this word is never used to express baptism. 
If water applied to the face is baptism, this is the 
very word that should have been used. 

Breko is found seven times, and means to wet, or to 
moisten, but it is never used to designate baptism. 
If to moisten the forehead with water is baptism, this 
is the word that would have so expressed it. 

Rantizo is found four times, and means to sprinkle. 
If baptism could be performed by sprinkling, this is 
the word of all words in the New Testament that 
should have been used. But this word is never used to 
signify the ordinance of baptism. 

Keo is found many times, and means to pour, but is 



126 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



never used to designate baptism. If baptism may be 
performed by pouring, this is the word that would so 
express it. 

Katharizo is found thirty times, and means to pu- 
rify, but is never used with reference to baptism. 

Why, of all these words, is but the one used ? The 
only consistent answer would be, because baptism means 
immersion, and nothing but immersion is baptism. 

For baptism see Luke 3 : 16-21. 

Verse 7. — Every one of us — Christians. 

Grace given — same with Chap. 1 : 2. 

According to — same with Chap. 1 : 5. 

The measure — metron — length, or capacity; stature; 
manhood. 

Gift — same with Chap. 3 : 7. 

The measure of Christ's gift is ever according to 
the needs of the world of men. The measure of the 
gifts of men extend according to their opportunity of 
doing good. "When the hour calls for the man, the 
man comes to meet the hour." When the divine hand 
strikes the summons, it prepares the representative 
fitted for that special work. Every Christian receives 
some gift which fits him for a certain usefulness. 
Loyalty to the Head of the Church demands that he 
make the best use of it. Every gift within the sphere 
of man is a prophecy of other gifts to follow. The 
little vine that clings to the wall is as much the crea- 
tion of God as is the "Cedar of Lebanon," the star as 
well as the sun. The pebble has its place as fittingly 
as the mountain; the dewdrop as the heaving ocean. 

Verse 8. — Wherefore — because of "the gift of His 
grace. ' ' 

Ascended-— -anabaino — to go or come up. See Acts 
1:9. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 127 



On high — hupsos — height Same with Luke 1 : 78. 

Captivity — aichmaldsia — a taking by the spear 

Captive — aichmald tend — to take by the spear. 

Gave gifts — doma — present, gift. Compare with 
Chap. 2:8; 3:7; and Verse 7. 

Verse 9. — Ascended — same with Verse 8. 

Descended — katdbaino — to go or come down. 

Lower parts — katdteros — lower down; lower than 
the plane of view. 

Earth — same with Chap. 1 : 10. 

"If He ascended, what does it mean but that He 
also descended into the under regions of the earth? 
This going up must imply that He had already gone 
down into the world beneath." — Twentieth. Century 
Testament. 

He went up because He had gone down. From a 
throne in the highest celestial glory and power to the 
lowest position of a slave in a sin-cursed earth. On- 
ward, downward, into the under world's abyss, the 
very sight of which makes men shudder as they peer 
over the edge of the grave. On the wings of immor- 
tality He again mounted upward from the darkening 
depths. Upward, through the gate of Hades, He 
stepped upon earth to salute men, living men, in the 
name of peace. Enveloped in glory, upward, through 
the riven clouds and past myriads of expecting angels. 
The everlasting doors lift up their heads, Ps. 24 : 9, 
and the King of Glory enters. 

In His first conquest He annexed earth to His 
dominion. He drove the champion of earth through 
the gates of death, and conquered him in his last re- 
treat. He now annexed Hades and was proclaimed 
Lord of lords, and King of kings. Traveling in the 
greatness of His strength He conquered all. Lord of 



128 BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 

angels and King of men. He has been crowned Lord 
and King of both the dead and the living. Those who 
died under the old covenant now have boldness to 
come forth from their prison, because His blood was 
left upon either post of the door of Death. Hades had 
but one door until Jesus came. This door He entered 
as man entered. Its key He wrested from its keeper, 
Rev. 1: 18. Having followed iniquity in all of its 
mysteries, He opened a door outward from the Unseen 
through which immortality gleams. A way never 
known by sin and its consequences. 

The wonderful gifts possessed by the apostles were 
given through the Holy Spirit. The Spirit was not 
sent until Christ ascended, therefore the gifts it brought 
are associated with His ascending on high. 

He went down into the lower division of the uni- 
verse and conquered the "King of Terrors." He 
spoiled his palace, carried away the bars of the grave 
and prepared the way for a resurrection to eternal 
glory. He spoiled the power of Death. He filled 
Death's dominion with the terror of His resurrecting 
presence, and then ascended into heaven to fill the 
everlasting kingdom with the power of His glorified 
presence. 

It was the custom of Roman emperors at their 
triumphal entrance to cast new coins among the people. 
"Gave gifts to men." When Christ ascended tri- 
umphantly into heaven He threw to men the greatest, 
new and most precious presents ever given. 

The emperors ascended to the Capitol in chariots 
of state, with their captives following on foot and 
their hands bound behind them. Those who were cap- 
tives to Satan and sin He has led into captivity to His 
grace and love. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 129 



Verse- 10. — Descended ; ascended — same with Verse 9. 

Up far above — same with Chap. 1 : 21. 

All heavens — ouranoi — all the heavens. In Heb. 
4 : 14 ; 7:26, we should read, 1 1 passed through the 
heavens" to the throne of God. 

The Jews recognized three heavens. No one of 
these was ever confused with the other. The first was 
where the birds fly "in the midst of heaven." Rev. 
19:17. The second is where the "stars of heaven" 
are. Gen. 22:17. The third was the throne of God. 
Ps. 11 : 4. It was up to the last of these that Paul was 
transported. 2 Cor. 12 : 2. 

Might fill— same with Chap. 1 : 23. 

"He who went down is the same as He who went 
up — up beyond the highest heaven, for it is His aim 
to fill the whole universe with His presence." — Twen- 
tieth Century New Testament. See Verses 8, 9. 

Verse 11. — He gave — emphatically, Himself. By His 
own power. 

Apostles — same with Chap. 1:1. 

Prophets— See Chap. 2:20. That which bubbles 
forth. Public expounder. 

Evangelists — evaggelistes — a bearer of good news, or 
tidings. 

Pastors — potmen — shepherd; a feeder. 

Teacher — didaskalos — an instructor. 

It is not necessary that one tell future events in 
order to be a prophet. It is such as are specially 
filled with a knowledge of the truth until it actually 
bubbles forth from them for the edification of men. 
1 Cor. 14:3. 

Evangelists were traveling ministers who were not 
numbered with the apostles. Pastors, or feeders, had 
charge of local congregations. 
9 



130 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



Teachers were given special wisdom in making 
things plain to the understanding. 

The only officers found in every well-regulated con- 
gregation, were bishops — episkopos — overseers, or the 
elders, and the deacons. As evidence of the lack of 
conformity of the modern idea of bishops with the 
primitive understanding, note the use of the words 
"bishop" and "elder" as used in. the New Testament. 
Bishop means 1 1 overseer. ' ' A plurality of elders were 
had in every church, or local assembly. Tit. 1:5; 
Jas. 5:14; 1 Pet. 5:1; Acts 20:17. The elders 
ruled — proistemi — to set or place over or before. 1 
Tim. 5 : 17. The same is said, of the bishops. 1 Tim. 
3:5,6. In Acts 20 : 17, Paul called the "elders" of the 
church at Ephesus. In giving them their charge he 
said: "Take heed, therefore unto yourselves, and all 
the flock over which the Holy Spirit hath made you 
overseers — episkopos — same translated bishops in Phil. 
1:1; 1 Tim. 3:2; Tit. 1:7; 1 Pet. 2:25— to feed the 
Church of God." Acts 20:28. Each church had its 
elders or "overseers." The modern idea is one bishop 
over one diocese. Each church had a plurality of 
bishops or elders, but no bishop or elder had a plu- 
rality of churches. The only officers of any local 
church were its elders and deacons. The only authority 
over any congregation was that within its own circle, 
of its own membership. 

Verse 12. — Perfecting — katartismos — complete ad- 
justment. 

Saints — same with Chap. 1:1. 

Work — same with Chap. 2:9. 

Ministry — diakonia — ministration ; attendance on 
duty. Same with "serving" and "service," in Luke 
10 : 40 ; Rom. 15 : 31 ; Rev. 2 : 19. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 131 

Body of Christ. See Chap. 1 : 22, 23. 

In order that all believers might have an equal 
chance is this preparation made. If all were pastors, 
those scattered Christians who have no congregation to 
meet with would be entirely neglected. Not only to 
these specially equipped members of the Body, but to 
each one of us is this grace given, Verse 7, for the 
building up of the Body of Christ. The work is so 
divided that no class of servants have the whole burden 
to carry. See Verse 3. 

The word " perfecting" implies the correcting all 
that is deficient. God's work shall be done. His pres- 
ence shall fill the universe. For this the heavens watch, 
the earth is in labor, all the elements strive; and the 
strife of human history will lead up to it. For this 
the whole creation moves. 

Verse 13. Till we all come. This work will con- 
tinue until we all attain to this end. 

Unity — same with Verse 3. 

The Faith — same with Chap. 1 : 15. 

Knowledge of the Son of God — same with Chap 1 : 17. 

Perfect man — teleios — ended, complete, full-grown 
man, maturity, adult. Not perfect, but full-grown men. 

Measure — same with Verse 7. 

Stature — helikia — greatness, length. 

Fullness of Christ — same with Chap. 1 : 10, 

Among Christians there should be harmony regard- 
ing their thought of and faithfulness to Christ. They 
are to work together for the obtaining of a full 
knowledge of the capacity which constitutes a Christian 
in the fullest sense of the term, ''manhood in Christ.'' 
There has been but "one faith" delivered to the saints. 
Jude 3. This is the faith in Christ as the Saviour of 
the world. In the day of the apostles more than at 



132 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



the present time, the spirit of polytheism and paganism 
was manifest. 

From one corner of the earth rang out a continual 
cry, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians." From an- 
other was lifted the banner of "Aphrodite of the 
Pergamenes," or "Bacchus of the Philadelphians ; ' ' or 
"The Unknown God" at Athens; or from Rome rang 
out the shout of Jupiter Best and Greatest." There 
were gods many and lords many, but to the Christian 
"there was but one God and one Christ." 1 Cor. 
8:5, 6. Coming to a unit in a theoretical understanding 
of the tenet of the doctrine of Christ, is not coming to 
a unit of the "faith or "faithfulness" here referred 
to. So long as one man outstrips another, there can 
not be unity in "understanding." The moment a man 
believes in the Christ and obeys His word to the for- 
giveness of his sins, that moment he is in "the faith." 
The same faith every other child of God is in. Hence 
he is in the "unity of the faith." He is now in the 
faith, and where he may grow in the "knowledge" of 
this faith. The "knowledge" of truth ever brings 
men to the unity of the understanding. There is no 
unity outside of this truth. There can be no division 
in the truth. It is not possible that any two men could 
differ one from the other upon anything they both 
know. Unity of faith brings us to oneness with Christ. 
The knowledge of the truth brings us to oneness with 
each other. Children often do not understand, and 
may quarrel with each other although each of them 
may love their parents. Their knowledge of their 
parent's will coupled with true love will make them one 
with each member of the family. This knowledge will 
enable the child to see that it is just as much against 
the will of the father that the children should quarrel 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIAXS. 



133 



among themselves, as it is that they should quarrel at 
him. '''Full grown man" is used in contrast with 
" children" cf Verse 14. Love makes one in Christ, in 
spirit, in wish. Knowledge alone can make one in 
action, in work and battle. Some religious men con- 
tend that variety is ever God's law. Consider that 
variety in flowers and birds, mountain grandeur and 
meadow scenery. All of this is of God's own make. 
Such must please Him. But did He send a variety of 
Christs ? Is there a variety of heavens, of gospels ? 
Is there a variety of bloods that atone for sin? No 
more does He delight in a variety of bodies or churches, 
or of doctrines, than in a variety of all these. The 
devil would ever have men to say, "any other time 
than God's time; any other way than God's way." 
He would make variety through falsehood where Christ 
would have unity through truth. Many men actually 
teach that it was God's intent that different men 
should understand the precepts of His Word in dif- 
ferent ways. That is, a statement from Christ or the 
Apostles does not mean the same to all Christians. As 
an illustration of this let us cite the subject of baptism. 
If you turn to John 3:5, and hand it to a friend, 
say of the M. E. Church, he will be very apt to tell you 
that this does not refer to the baptism in water at all. 
Then open his own Discipline at page 297, Sec. 443, 
under the article "Baptism." Here the minister is to 
repeat John 3 : 1-8, during the time he officiates at the 
ordinance of baptism. Ask your friend what this same 
Scripture means as used m his own Discipline, and he 
will say it refers to baptism of water. Why does it 
not have the same meaning when read direct from the 
New Testament? Then turn to any Article in the Dis- 
cipline and ask his opinion of it After he has ex- 



134 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



pressed his view of it, ask him if it should mean the 
same to the bishop, the district superintendent, the 
local minister, to the lay members ? Or is it intended by 
the bishops whose names appear on page six, that their 
opinions should be divided in their Church regarding 
that article? Keep in mind his answer, please. If men 
will write disciplines and expect all men who pro- 
fess to be governed by them to understand them in 
the same light; why could not God write a law, a Dis- 
cipline, by which all Christians are to be governed, and 
make it plain enough that they could see it in the same 
light? The reason that men do not admit tnis un- 
answerable argument, is because the "legs of the lame 
are not equal. ' ' Prov. 26 : 7. 

Christ's originality among men lies not in new 
truths so much as upon divine power He gives to men 
to enable them to carry out His doctrine in the con- 
duct of their lives. Love comes through being born of 
God. Concerted action can come through knowledge 
only. All things come to perfection of action by drill 
or marching. Man was created so as to have but little 
done for himself. This was to tempt him to do for him- 
self. When a man is converted to God, he has life and 
love, but he is no more than an outline sketch of that 
character which he is to fill up. 

Through unity "of faith" men become a concourse 
that praises God for His redeeming grace. Through 
knowledge of His truth they become "one man," with- 
out division. In this condition they not only praise 
God, but they learn that the only way in which they 
may glorify God is by being careful with His children. 
In oneness so He may not be ashamed of them. Heb. 
2:11. 

For Son of God — see Luke 1 : 35, 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 



135 



Verse 14. — That we henceforth — to the end that. 

Children — nepios — childish, helpless; without fore- 
thought. Without full power of speech. Compare 
with Chap. 1:5. 

Tossed to and fro — kluddnizom — agitated; in com- 
motion; tossed as the waves of the sea; backward and 
forward; shifted around. Jas. 1:6. 

And carried — peripherd — to carry or bear around, 
carried by a wind from without. Same with Mark 
6 : 55 ; Jude 12 ; Heb. 13 : 9. 

"Wind — anemos — gale ; breeze. 

Doctrine — didaskalia — teaching (the substance). 
Compare with Heb. 13 : 9, where it is didache — the act 
of teaching. 

Sleight — kubeia — dicing, dice throwing. 

Cunning craftiness — panourgia — knavery, villainy, 
trickerj^; artifice of error; snares. 

Lie in wait — pros ten metlwdeian — toward the 
methodizing; to reduce to method, to arrange for. 

Deceive — plane — leading astray; cause to roam 
about; lead into error; digress from the right. 

"By the sleight" would better read, "in:" This 
expresses the very atmosphere of evil with its changing 
currents in which men get mixed when they turn from 
the gospel of obedience. "Of men" proves that Paul 
intended to contrast this with the teachings of the 
Christ. Men who observe not the plan of God as pre- 
sented in the gospel, are left without His aid, are 
helpless; are as children. They can not have His guid- 
ing influence apart from His truth. They are without 
forethought, and are taken unawares by the snares of 
evil men. Such are tossed by the waves of contention, 
and borne about by the rising storms of diverse teach- 
ings by those who play the "dice game" to catch the 



136 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



souls of inen. Many deceivers are noted for their 
knavery and methods used in leading men astray from 
the one path of obedience. The power of selfishness 
and of pride is instituted in the world. All evils of 
the soul are incarnated; are organized to perpetuate 
crime and sin in the earth. Christians have no guerilla 
warfare. Justice, Love, Truth, and Concord must be 
organized and become incarnate, if a victory over sin 
is to be won. They can only compete with evil by 
being "strong in the truth." Light bodies are easily 
taken up by the wind and driven about. A wind will 
cleanse the grain and leave it upon the floor by taking 
up the chaff and carrying it away. The oak stands 
firm but the wind gathers up the dead leaves. 

"A man in Christ." A man might live without 
hair, eyes, ears, or legs, but will he be a man "com- 
plete?" It takes every member, even to the smallest 
part, joined together to constitute "a man." The 
Church is a "complete man." How absurd to name 
anything as the Church or body, "the man," except 
that which includes all of His members. Any other 
doctrine is a "dice game" to catch the souls of the 
careless. Both the deceiver and the deceived are cen- 
sured. The one because he misused his faculties; the 
other because he had not his faculties exercised to dis- 
cern the snares of the "gambling table" where Satan 
throws ' ' dice ' ' for his soul. The common cry is ; " We 
do not wish doctrine preached; the time for such has 
passed." When Philip would enslave the men of 
Athens, he declared the people should give up their 
orators. Demosthenes made reply: "So said the 
wolves — they desired to have peace with the shepherds, 
the dogs must first be given up — those pugnacious dogs 
that provoke quarrels. The wolves would lie down 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIAXS. 137 



among the lambs in peace if only those dogs were 
hanged. ' ' Peace is promised among the religious bodies 
of earth if only the doctrine of Christ's gospel be put 
away. 

The cry is : " We have Christ. What need have we 
of doctrine?" As well could the mariner say: "We 
have the great boat, captain, and crew, what need have 
we of the chart or compass?" True doctrine is the 
backbone of true manhood. The brightest ages of prac- 
tice have always been those in which the truest doctrine 
was preached without compromise or fear. This was 
the life and glory of the early Church. Acts 2 : 42. 
The call of God is the call to unity. If you desire to 
view the quarrels and divisions in their true light, look 
at them through the world's crying need. The revela- 
tion of a lost world will give any man the impulse to 
unite with all Christians with but one aim, the will of 
God. If you desire to see sects and jealousies in their 
true import, only look at them through the needs of 
a starving world that Jesus died to save. 

The absence of unity is a reflection on the uniting 
force. The love of Christ is the uniting force. Men of 
God, the love of Christ is on trial. What will we do? 
The unity of the Church is guaranteed by the im- 
mortality of the principle on which it is founded. 
Saints longing for saints is the prophecy that all 
of God's people are destined to be brought together. 
God will satisfy every longing He has created. He will 
feed the soul He has made hungry. He has given the 
soul enjoyment for true fellowship. This He will 
supply. 

There is one thing specially intended for the con- 
sideration of those who think they may get on without 
God against sinful men. "Sleight of men" refers to 



138 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



the art of dice playing where the dice are "loaded. " 
The player will always throw up one kind of number. 
Those who play with them can never win. Let no man 
deceive himself that he can play against the "loaded 
dice" of the devil. 

Verse 15. — Speaking the truth — aleetheuein — to 
speak truly ; to be sincere in love. Same with Chap. 1 : 4. 

Grow up — auxano — to increase. Same with "in- 
crease" in 1 Cor. 3 : 6, 7. Mark 4: 7, is anabaino — to go 
up. This does not signify any fruit or increase, but to 
grow as weeds grow. 

Into Him. Each part growing in due proportion 
to other parts, and to the body in general. In Him is 
consistency always. 

All things — pas — all points. Christians as true men 
are not to develop the selfish side of life alone, as chil- 
dren would do, but all the faculties must be developed. 
Otherwise man is deformed to the extent of any such 
lack. 

The Head— see Chap. 1 : 22, 23. Same with Chap. 
1:3. See also Luke 2:11. While aleetheuein, "speak- 
ing the truth in love," has the force of speaking "that 
which is true, or not false : " it here signifies the expres- 
sion of the whole life ; the being true, or real. Not 
what we may act or say at certain times, but what we 
are at all times. Lovingly real. Truth may be spoken 
and be unkindly spoken. Even an act kind within it- 
self may be unkindly done. Speak the truth but speak 
"it in love." It is just as lawful to steal and kill for 
truth's sake as it is to speak truth unkindly and 
with bitterness. Read Prov. 25:11. An apple of gold 
is beautiful as it shines through the meshes of a silver 
basket. But should this apple of gold be taken from the 
basket and hurled at the head, it may become an instru- 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 139 

ment of pain, or even death. So with good words not 
fitly spoken. The manner in which a thing is said is of 
as much importance as the thing said. 

Grow up in Him. Here no law or judgment is 
known. Grow up in self and its ways and there is 
naught except that which is for the dresser's knife 
and the bonfire. It is only through the Head that the 
members of the body, even those nearest to each other, 
may sympathize with one another. If the nerves were 
separated there would be no more sympathy than in a 
body wholly dead. So it is with those in Christ; His 
members ; His body. 

Verse 16. — From whom — Christ. 

Whole body— the Church. See Chap. 1 : 22. 

Fitly joined — sunarmologeo — to lay systematically 
together; to fit together; to join together; to unite; to 
join as in wedlock, to fit one thing to another. 

Compacted — sumbibazo — to raise up together; to 
bring together; to reconcile; to bring to terms; to 
agree; to put together. 

Every joint — hophe — fitting together; a fastening; 
close connection; a union. It refers to the yellow sand 
sprinkled over wrestlers after they were anointed, to 
enable them to hold one to the other. 

Supplieth — epichoregia — to fill up ; keep full ; to 
furnish with what is needed. Same with Phil. 1 : 19. 

According — same with Chap. 1 : 5. Compare with 
Chap. 1:4. 

Effectual working — same with Chap. 1 : 19. " Ac- 
cording to each several member's working." 

The measure — same with Verse 7. 

Every part — meroe — each division. Each one part, 
or individual part. 

Same with Verse 9. 



140 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



Increase — autesis — increase, as that of a fruitful 
vine when well tended. 
The body — see Verse 4. 
Edifying — same with Verse 12. 
Love — same with Chap. 1 : 4. 

From Christ the Head, and from Him only, is the 
entire body laid systematically together and raised up 
in Him with energy and fitness. 

The Church is one in life and spirit. The one 
Mind of the one Head carries the same Divine influence 
and life everywhere both in its laws and members. See 
Verse 14 for unity of law and doctrine. The members 
of the body are required to perform these individual, or 
several, functions for the service of the body itself. 
The reason is plainly manifest. The body must serve 
itself and have life before it may be useful to others. 
The body has relations and duties to things besides it- 
self, but it must supply itself before these relations can 
be perfected. Hence the oneness of the Church. "It 
makes increase of itself." 

The Church has a relation in some way to all the 
things of earth. It is the only organization which 
touches human life on every side. That which is uni- 
versal must be individual. The Church is universal 
because it deals with each individual life, and each 
individual problem of life. 

It can never be that which all societies or sects hold 
in common with each other that distinguishes one from 
another, but it is that which they hold as peculiarly 
their own. That which is the property of none other. 
This individual property is that which constitutes a 
sect or faction. The Church can be no sect, because 
its Head is The Truth; therefore it has a right to all 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 141 

truth. There is not a truth to be found that does not 
belong to the Church of Christ. 

You meet a man. You form your opinion of the 
whole man by looking at the head. There may be 
some member which is deficient, but the head makes up 
for the whole. Men should view the Head of the 
Church, Christ, in order to gain a true conception of 
what the real body should be. 

"The body derives its power to grow in proportion 
to the activity of each individual part; and so it is 
being built up in a spirit of love." — Twentieth Century 
New Testament. 

Verse 17. — This I say therefore — this then is what I 
say. 

Testify — marturomai — to bear witness. Same with 
Gal. 5 : 3. 

Henceforth — meketi — no more, not again; do not 
continue. 

Gentiles — Same with Chap. 2 : 11. 

Vanity of mind — mataiotes — uselessness, folly, fruit- 
lessness; waste of the rational powers on worthless ob- 
jects. 

Paul's witness of the glory of the Church with 
Christ as the Head, was sufficient to prove to these 
Ephesians that they could not be in the body of Christ 
and at the same time walk as those nations walk who 
have nothing in their minds but that which is useless 
and sinful. 

Paul does not say "as other Gentiles" as found in 
the A. V. text, but "as the Gentiles." Christ was 
the founder of a new world where there is neither Jew 
nor Gentile. 1. Cor. 12 : 13. All within this realm are 
Christians. Though they were Gentiles by birth they 
are now of a new and distinct household. They are 



142 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



brought into a new order of being. Christians must 
not be afraid to be singular. Such as are called to 
grace must not live as the world lives. Why should 
men when saved of God, be worse servants to Truth 
and Bight than they formerly were to the devil and 
sin? It is ever like the nations apart from the gospel 
to live after the fleshly mind. 

Verse 18. — Understanding. — Same with Chap. 1 : 18 ; 
1 John, 5 : 20. 

Darkened — shotizomai — made dark; to be dark; to 
be dizzy. 

Alienated — apallotrioo — to give to others; given 
over to foreigners; in the hands of others. Same with 
Col. 1 : 21. Compare with Chap. 2 : 2. 

Life of God — -that which never ceases. Life present 
and life to come. 1 Tim. 4 : 8. The life which is in 
the Son. 1 John 5:12, is of God the Father. John 
5:26. 

Through — rather, "on account of." 

Ignorance — agnoia — want of knowledge. 

Blindness of heart — porosis — hardness. Same with 
Rom. 4:18. Same with "hardness'' in Mark 3:5. 
This signifies willful ignorance because of the hardness 
of heart. See 2 Peter 3 : 4-5. 

The hardness of heart turns them from the life 
everlasting found only in God, to the bondage of sin 
and the second death. They lack understanding but 
they will it so. They wish to be ignorant of God and 
things of lasting worth. 

A coward never knows the ecstasy of courage be- 
cause he wills to remain out of the battles where true 
courage may only be manifest. Such an one has not 
in him that which could make him know this until it 
was created and developed by actual service in conflict. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 143 

Some men see more in the coarse sign over the saloon 
door than they see in the paintings of a great master. 
Others can see more to be appreciated in a silly rag- 
time than they can see in a magnificent symphony of 
Beethoven. 

Darkness and death ever go together. Man was 
created to find the root of his perfection only in God. 
If we underrate the pure and the true, they can not 
produce in us that comprehensiveness of vision and life 
intended. If a man is deceived, though ignorantly 
honest, he is on the trail that leads away from truth. 
His character is being moulded all the while according 
to his conceptions of these errors. Hence a man is just 
as responsible before God and the bar of human life 
for searching and finding out that which is hidden 
truth to him, as he is for the accepting of the truth 
when it is clearly forced upon him. He who through 
gross indifference would not light the lamps in the 
light-house on the shore of the storm-swept sea, the 
result of which was the destruction of many vessels 
and people, was just as guilty of this death and de- 
struction as he would have been had he guided these 
vessels safely to harbor, then blown them up with a 
bomb. He could have saved them and would not. If 
we have an opportunity of gathering knowledge by 
which others may be saved, and we willfully reject this 
opportunity of life, we are as responsible for the loss 
sustained by these persons we could have helped, as 
we would have been for taking away some good they 
were already in possession of. 

Christ came to earth to reveal the "true condition" 
more than the "happy place." All human action and 
enjoyment are under law to God. Man can find no rest 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



until he rests "in the Lord." Ps. 37:7; Ex. 34:14; 
Isa. 11 : 10. 

Ignorance of the value of pearl caused the idiot to 
slight it. Ignorance caused the fool to gather pebbles 
rather than the diamond. 

Verse 19. — Past feeling — apalgeo — to put away 
pain; without the sense of pain; to lose the excitement 
of hopes; lost to all sense of shame. 

Given over — paradidomi — put into another's hands; 
deliver up; surrender. 

Lasciviousness — aselgeia — excess ; wantonly offensive. 
Same with "wantonness" in Rom. 13:13; 2 Pet. 2:18. 

To work — ergasia — business, gain. 

Uncleanness — akatharsia — impurity. Same with 
Matt. 23:27; Gal. 5:19. 

Greediness — pleonexia — desiring more; taking ad- 
vantage over another. All kinds of self-seeking. 

"Being past hope" they gave themselves up as 
captives to lust. They made "uncleanness" their busi- 
ness. 

It is surprising, yea, it is the 1 ' mystery of iniquity, ' ' 
how the nations, apart from God in the light of the 
gospel, have so abused every law of conscience that no 
mental pains are felt, even when wantonly offensive to 
all that is pure. They work all manner of impurity 
and have such a greedy spirit for it they are never sat- 
isfied. They add filthiness to impurity and desire more 
of it. These are the two daughters of the "horse- 
leach" Prov. 30: 15. On such God's special judgments 
and punishments shall fall. 2 Pet. 2:10. "To feed 
the gluttonous idol of self that sits in God's place 
within," is making multitudes of miserable slaves to 
passion and lust. "Over the pits of destruction play 
the same dancing lights" of lustful flame that have 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIAN& Ho 

led astray the souls of men in all ages past. "The foot 
of transgression still pursues the mind of lust." These 
illusions will at some time be revealed, but it will be 
too late for the escape of those who have stumbled into 
sin's darkening gulf. The gay face will appear bloated 
by debauch. The coveted prize that seemed to glitter 
ahead, will turn to a burning coal on the pavements 
of Gehenna. The sweet fruit of lust will become ashes 
out of which the seared worm of a defiled conscience 
will come. The cup of pleasure will boil in the fires 
of hell. 

"Past feeling." The chief danger of the poison 
called night-shade is its tendency to deprive the stom- 
ach of all sensibility; thus rendering the most powerful 
antidote useless. This is exactly the way in which the 
sin of uncleanness affects the spirit of man. The loss 
of sensibility. 

Verse 20. — Not so learned — understood, known. The 
lesson which you learned from the Christ is much dif- 
ferent to this. 

Verse 21. — Heard Him — akoud — to give ear, to 
hearken ; actually listened to Him. 

Taught — didasko — instructed. 

Truth— Same with Chap. 1 : 13. 

"In union with Him were taught the Truth as it is 
to be found in Jesus." — Twentieth Century New Tes- 
tament. 

No one can feel right in doing those things which 
are impure if they have given ear to the precepts of 
life as taught by the Christ. "Heard Him." Not 
merely heard something about Him. ' ' To know whom 1 
have believed. ' ' 2 Tim. 1 : 12, is more than knowing 
something about Him. More than knowing "in whom I 
believed." "Ye have heard Him," The gospel rep- 
10 



146 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



resents Christ as still working and teaching in the 
world. 

Luke declares that the Gospel he wrote tells of what 
' 1 Christ began both to do and to teach." Acts 1:1. 
The book called Acts, shows what He is continuing to 
do since Pie has gone to heaven. Christ continues to 
work. Acts 1:11; 2:36; 3:13; 4:30; 6:14; 9:5; 
9:17; 22:8; 26:15. 

Verse 22. — Put off — apotithemai — to put away, lay 
aside. 

Concerning — kaia — down or over against, as to. 
Former — proteros — the first; before. 
Conversation — anastrophe — a turning up and down; 
behavior. 

Old man — palaios — that which has become obsolete, 
antiquated, ancient. 

Corrupt — phtheiro — to spoil; to ruin. 
According — Same with Chap. 1 : 5. 
Deceitful — apate — deceit; cheating; fraud. 
Lusts — Same with Chap. 2:3. 

A man's own lusts are his executioners. He is de- 
ceived by lust and disappointed in the promised pleas- 
ures. Bad behavior is to be put away. The old man 
or life of sin is very much out of date under the pure 
laws of the New Testament. It is obsolete. Its very 
nature is calculated to ruin the soul and defraud it 
of the everlasting inheritance of love and grace. Sin 
is a sweet poison that "tickleth while it stabbeth. " 

Verse 23. — Renewed in mind — ananeoomai — growing 
young again — a mental and spiritual transformation. 

Verse 24. — Put on — to dress your self. 

New man — kainos — fresh, recent, newly made; not 
out of date. For "man" see Chap. 2:15. You must 
clothe yourselves with a new nature. 



Or THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIAXS. 



147 



Created— Same with Chap. 2 : 10. 

Righteousness — dikaiosune — rightness ; justice. 

True holiness — hosiotes — kindness ; graciousness. 
Holiness demanded by the truth, or sacredness of the 
truth. 

A call to put on the new type of manhood as com- 
pletely as to renounce the old. If the Christly char- 
acter is received by the inner man, such character is 
revealed by its manifestations through the "outer man" 
as "the soul's calling among men." "The world's 
ethics can not be practiced with a Christian creed." 

Man must not neglect his outward character. Even 
in creation, God nearly always puts the more beautiful 
on the outside where it may be seen. Some say, "Well, 
the worst side of me is out." It ought not to be 
thought that such is a proper thing to boast of. The 
"new man" is to be "'put on," but it is to be in con- 
nection with the new or renewed heart and spirit. A 
kind spirit must not show an angry "outside man." 
See Terse 15. You have heard of certain persons who 
"are good at heart." The meaning is that their heart 
is better than their actions. This must not be. In 
proportion as one is "renewed in spirit" they must 
"put on" the new life. 

Verse 25. — Wherefore — so then. 

Put away — apotitliem — to put from one's self; lay 
aside. Here it is more properly expressed, "Having 
put away." 

Lying — pseudos — a lie, a falsehood; deceitful. Even 
the lie of polite society. 

Truth— Same with Chap. 1 : 13. 

Neighbor — ho plesion — one near to, close to. Same 
with Luke 10 : 36. Of the three men who saw the 
wounded man, only one was near enough of kin in 



148 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



human heart to render the needed assistance. "He 
was neighbor." For the difference in the words trans- 
lated ! ' neighbor, ' ' see Luke 1 : 58. 

Members one of another — melos — limb, part of the 
body. ' ' For we are united to one another like the parts 
of a body." — Twentieth Century Neiv Testament. To 
injure one another then is to injure self. Thus it is then 
fittingly expressed in 1 Cor. 12 : 25, 26. 

Lying — will include all false religions, "pious 
frauds" propped up by false miracles or false legends, 
or anything after that false fashion. The sin of lymy 
tends in its nature to the destruction of all civil society. 
It is an abomination to God. Prov. 12 : 22 ; 6 : 16. It 
is abominable to all good men. Prov. 13 : 5. Lying is 
the worst sin of the age. Truth is the perfection of 
the Godhead. Lying is the chief characteristic of the 
devil. Lying is opposed to all truth, hence it is op- 
posed to the whole divine law. It is not merely a sin 
against a single commandment as other sins are, but it 
is against all truth. The greatest blessing afforded this 
world is the intercourse, or communion, man with man. 
To take away this greatest blessing is the worst thing 
that can happen to the world. Lying degrades a man. 
It is a foul blot, so foul, that even bad men are cautious 
not to be caught. Lying violates an oath which is the 
end of all controversy. There is no higher appeal. 
Hence a lie destroys the very highest. It abolishes the 
last means of knowing the truth, or the facts. It is 
the nearest thing possible to suicide. It denies the per- 
sonality which God has given to man. It is contrary to 
all of God's creation. It is contrary to all language. 
It makes men like devils and destroys all confidence. 
Our social unit forbids this awful sin. If a pit is 
covered with grass so the eye can not detect the dan- 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 



149 



ger, will not the foot test it for the eye? If the eye 
spy a serpent, will it lie to the foot? We are one body. 

Truth is due from one man to another in the right 
of the spiritual dignity of humanity. To deceive a 
man is an intentional dishonor to him. It is an assump- 
tion that he is but a mere thing to whom no respect is 
due. A thing to be made the sport of delusions without 
any dignity. Lying is against reason. 

Language was given to men that they might tell to 
one another their mutual thoughts. Hence it is unlaw- 
ful to reason for a man to speak or signify that which 
does not exist in the mind. A lie is so unnatural that 
it is brave towards God and a coward towards men. 
It faces God and shrinks from men. A lie is so horrible 
a thing and so nearly related to hell that men hesitate 
to say the word. They will say falsehood, fib, or yarn, 
before they say "lie." There is no limit to the realm 
of the lie. It is the furthest reach of human depravity. 
Lying takes a man out of the human realm and places 
him in the atmosphere of demon spirits. Our best 
lawyers declare that lying, or perjury, is the only thing 
which can overthrow our Government with its justice. 
See Chap. 5 : 4, with reference to joking. 

Every man's conscience naturally convinces him 
that he is under obligations to the truth. Christians 
must speak the truth in proportion as they know the 
truth. All are members of the one great family, of 
each other, and are finding examples in the actions of 
others. "Speak the truth in love." 

Verse 26. — Angry — orgizomai — angry feelings; to 
be wroth ; to provoke to anger. 

Sin — hamartano — to miss the mark; to get into the 
wrong road ; go wrong. Compare with Chap. 1:7; 
2:1, 5. 



150 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



The sun — helios — the solar light. 

Go down upon — epiduo epi — to go in upon, settle 
upon, go down. 

Wrath — parorgismos — a provoking to anger; a cause 
for anger. Compare with Chap. 2:3; 5:6; 4 : 31 ; 6:4. 

This verse appears to be a mystery to most readers 
of the Bible. It would not be possible in any ordinary 
space to set forth the conflicting views concerning 
it. Many have followed the example of the Mormons in 
their professed translation of this verse. They read: 
"Can ye be angry and sin not?" This is a most hor- 
rible mutilation of the sacred text. 

God Himself is said to be angry. Deut. 1 : 37 ; 4 : 21 ; 
9 : 8, 20. Christ was angry — orge — Mark 3 : 5. Same 
with Verse 31, and Col. 3 : 8. A Christian or Chris- 
tian is justifiable in being angry as was His Master, 
but in no other sense. The anger of Christ because 
of the ignorance and hardness of the Pharisaical heart 
that did not want Him to restore the withered hand. 
The entire text must be considered in order to get a 
correct understanding of this mysterious phrase. The 
sun is not to go down upon this wrath. Neither is 
place to be given the devil. Place — topos — occasion, 
opportunity. Devil — diabolos — accuser; adversary. A 
simple illustration will suffice to explain this. A is 
dutiful and obedient to the gospel, walking circum- 
spectly to honor the Christ whom he claims to repre- 
sent. He sees B, who professes to be following this 
same Christ, indulging in things which are hurtful to the 
cause he claims to love. He is filled with anger, or 
provoked to indignation, against this spirit that would 
set so lightly by the gracious power of the truth of 
heaven. A's heart is hot; his indignation is stirred. 
But he must not let the sun go down upon this feeling 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. L51 

of his. He must take no rest until he has rid himself 
of this anger (Ps. 4:4). This is the only means 
of securing a clean conscience that will enable a man 
to rest upon his "bed," free from the stinging guilt 
of self-condemnation. A at the first opportunity ad- 
monishes B in the name of Christ to cease indulging in 
that which is so detrimental to true religion. He thus 
fulfills his duty and throws the whole burden off on to 
the perpetrator of the wrong. Suppose A had kept 
this anger pent up in his own heart until some one 
brought the accusation against B, and A should be 
called as a witness. A would say: ''I have, for some 
time, known these things were true of you, B." B 
would answer : "If you knew this, why did you not as 
a man and Christian, tell me of them long ago?" Thus 
a place had been given the devil because A had not 
done his duty and cast the burden of responsibility 
where it belonged. See Gal. 6:1. 

Any passion that lives with a man throughout the 
day, and remains with him as he sleeps, and wakes with 
him in the morning, will surely become rooted in the 
soul. It will become a settled principle whether good 
or bad. If to be avoided it must not be carried through 
the night. 

Christ did not keep His anger against that awful 
hypocrisy, but spent it in admonition and rebuke 
against those hypocrites who claimed to love God yet 
would not permit Him to do good unto one of His 
own subjects. The sun did not go down upon His 
wrath for He put it away at the time and place that 
propriety called for it. This will be better understood 
when the word "wrath" is carefully considered as 
given above. It means a provocation, a cause, or good 
reason for being angry. 



152 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



Plutarch says of an ancient rule of The Pithagor- 
eans: "If at any time they happened to be provoked 
by anger to abusive language, before the sun set they 
would take each other's hands and embracing, make up 
their quarrel." Doubtless Paul had just such a cus- 
tom in view when he penned this text. The anger of 
Christ and that allowable for Christians is absolutely 
holy if used right. He was never angry on His own 
account, or for injury done Him. It was for violence 
done the spirit of truth and love which is the spirit 
of the universe. 

When George IV. was king of England he de- 
sired one day to receive the Lord's Supper, and he 
sent for the Bishop of Winchester to administer it to 
him. The messenger who was sent on this errand was 
very slow in his movements, and loitered along the 
way. This caused a long delay before the bishop could 
reach the king, who became very impatient and angry. 
When the bishop came he stated that he had started 
immediately on getting the message, but that the serv- 
ant was slow in coming to him. In his anger the king 
rang the bell and called for the messenger. When he 
entered the room the king reproved him very sharply, 
and dismissed him from his service, and told him to leave 
the palace at once. Then turning to the bishop he said, 
"Now, my lord, we will go on with the service." 
But the bishop with great mildness, and yet firmly, 
said, "Please your Majesty, I can not do that. The 
temper just displayed is not fit preparation for this 
solemn service." The king saw his mistake and made 
suitable apology to the bishop. Then he sent for the 
messenger, and asked his pardon and told him pleas- 
antly that he should remain in the king's employ." 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 153 



He who would be angry and not sin must be angry 
at nothing but sin, as God is. 

Verse 28. — Steal — klepto — to carry off that which is 
another's. 

Labor — kopiad — to be wearied out. In Rev. 14 : 13, 
it is kopos — a beating, a wearing out. Heb. 4:11 is 
spoudazo — to make haste. The same with ' ' diligence ' ' in 
2 Tim. 4:9, 21; 2 Pet. 1:10. In 2 Cor. — :9 it is 
philotimeomai — to esteem as an honor. Col. 4 : 12 is 
agonizomai — to agonize, to wrestle. Phil. 4 : 3 is sun- 
athleo — to strive along with any one. 

Working — ergazomai — to toil. Same with "labor" 
in John 6 : 27 ; 1 Thess. 2 : 9. 

That which is good — to agathon — that which is 
honest ; right. Same with ' 1 good ' ' in Matt. 7:11; 
Luke 1 : 53 ; Heb. 9 : 11 ; Chap. 6 : 8. 

To give — metadidomai — to give a share of; to share 
wdth. 

Needeth — chreia — necessity; in need. 

The sinner must not only cease from sin, but he 
must turn in the opposite direction and do that which 
is good. See Luke 6 : 43, 44. A tree is not bad simply 
because it bears bad fruit. It is a bad tree when it 
bears no fruit at all. 

Among thieves. See Luke 10 : 30, 36. What will 
God require of him who leads to hell an everlasting 
spirit for whom so great a price was paid? 

Idleness, sometimes forced idleness, sends multitudes 
of young men to ruin. To earn a livelihood by "work" 
is the moral education established in nature and was 
begun by man in Eden. Commotion is not work, or 
the fly would be as beneficial as the bee. 

Verse 29. — Corrupt — sapros — bad, putrid, rotten. 

Communcation— logos — a word. Same with 1 ' words ' ' 



154 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



in Matt. 12:37; and "speech" in Tit. 2:8; Cel. 4:6. 

Proceed out oi—^eJcporeuomai — to go on out of. 

Good— Same with Chap. 2:10. Greek, "Whatever 
is good." 

Use of chreia — necessary business; need. 

Edifying — Same with Verses 12, 18. An upbuilding 
of the need. Help to those who hear. "For edifying 
where it is needed." 

Minister — didomi — to give. Compare with Chap. 
3:7; 6:21. 

Grace — Same with Chap. 1 : 2. 

Hearers — aJcouo — one who gives ear; one who hark- 
ens. Let the speech give grace to the hearers. 

There is no condition under which a Christian may 
permit any rotten or filthy word to escape his mouth. 
What a rebuke is this to the many who profess God's 
love and yet have their mouths defiled by words that 
putrify. "True religion breeds truthful men: Sound 
faith makes an honest tongue." Senseless and useless 
language is forbidden as something which is injurious. 
For "loose speech easily becomes low speech." The 
question is not: "Is there any harm in this?" But, 
"Is there any good in it?" "Preserve me, God, from 
a vain conversation. ' ' Ps. 141 : 3 ; Prov. 10 : 19 ; Matt. 
12: 36, 37; Jas. 3:8; Chap. 5:4. 

It was General Grant who was standing with his 
back to the fire when a young subaltern came in, and 
having looked around, said, "I am glad there are no 
ladies here. I Ve such a capital story to tell. ' ' At once 
the General said, "No, sir, there are gentlemen here." 

Verse 30. — Grieve — lupeo — to afflict, to cause to 
feel pain ; to vex. See Isa. 63 : 10 ; Ps. 78 : 40 ; Ezek. 
16 : 43 ; Acts 7 : 5. 

Holy Spirit— See Chap. 1 : 13. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 155 



Whereby— through which, or in which ; in whom. 

Unto — eis — into, in order to ; in preparation for. 

Day of redemption — Same with Chap. 1 : 7. 

The day when both body and soul are delivered from 
all weakness. Chap. 1 : 14 ; Luke 21 : 28 ; Rom. 8 : 23. 

The Holy Spirit places His impress upon the Chris- 
tian as a pledge of that glory to be received when he 
is loosed from the flesh and is ready for the victor's 
crown. Filthy speech grieves the Holy Spirit whose 
influence is the comfort of the trusting soul. His pure 
presence will not grace a soul made foul by filthy and 
putrifying speech. 

The seal. Men put their seal or mark upon any 
article to show that it is their own. The Lord knows 
them that are His. 2 Tim. 2:19. 

The Day of Redemption will come. Phil. 3 : 20, 21. 

Verse 31. — Bitterness — pikria — sharpness, harshness, 
cruelty. 

"Wrath — thumos — anger, rage, any vehement pas- 
sion. 

Anger — orge — Same with Mark 3:5. 
Clamor — krauge — cry, outcry, screaming, bawling, 
shouting. 

Evil speaking — blasphemia — injurious speaking; 
blasphemy. Same with " blasphemy" in Matt. 12:31; 
15:19; 26:65; Mark 2:7; 3:28; 7:22; 14:64; Luke 
5:21; John 10:33; Col. 3:8; Rev. 2:9; 13:1, 5, 6; 
17 : 3. Abusive language. 

Malice — kakia — moral badness, evil, baseness, de- 
pravity. Same with "evil" in Matt. 6 : 34. 

Tt might be translated " spitef ulness " here. 

Verse 32. — Be kind — chrestos — useful, beneficial, 
good service; good natured; act well; act properly. 



156 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



Tender hearted — eusplagchnos — compassionate, mer- 
ciful. 

Forgiving — charizomai — to be gracious to. Same 
with Col. 3 : 13. 

"As God hath forgiven." The remembrance of 
God's love and mercy to us should cause us to deal 
less harshly with men. If kindness is to be more than 
an echo of what we receive from others, it must be 
an habitual practice because of the Spirit of the Christ 
within, and not because of the conditions around, or 
the actions of those we deal with. 

To light the lamp of our neighbor from the flame 
of our own does not impoverish us in the least. 

The word "kindness'' as used by the translators of 
the A. V., is from the word "kinned," which means 
of the same race or kin. All are brethren. 

God has forgiven us for the sake of Christ His dear 
Friend. Can not all Christians have the same spirit 
to forgive the repentant one ? See Chap. 1 : 6. 

The admonition is not "forgiving another," but 
"forgiving one another." Forgive to-day, for to-mor- 
row may be your turn to need forgiveness. This fact 
should not be lost sight of. The Greek is, "God in 
Christ hath forgiven." "Even as God in Christ hath 
forgiven you." 

There is but one thing in which a man may take 
the prerogative of God — be equal with Him. That is in 
the forgiving of another. In this one thing in which 
we may be absolutely like God, we are most deficient. 
If men wish to be above their fellows there is but one 
way of reaching such a position. Get the spirit of 
forgiveness and be like God. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 157 



CHAPTER V. 

Verse 1. — Be ye therefore — Because of the fact of 
God's love as stated in Chap. 4:32. 

Followers of God — mimetes — a copyist; one who 
represents character. Dear — agapetos — loved; beloved. 
Same with Col. 1 : 7 ; 1 Thess. 2 : 8. This same word is 
translated "beloved" about forty-seven times in the 
New Testament; "dearly -beloved" nine times; and 
"well beloved" three times. 

Children — Same with Chap. 2:3. Beloved children. 

Acting out the character of God as good and beloved 
children cf a loving Father. All Christians are to 
walk in love towards each other as Christ did towards 
all men. Christ's first thought was to give to others 
and not to receive from them. 

It is never proper to assume the title of son when 
there is nothing in common with the father; that is 
when there is no similarity. 

Augustine said, "We are sons of men when we do 
ill ; sons of God when we do well. ' ' "We are to study 
of God and copy what we learn. To copy that which 
is of great importance, much carefulness and skill are 
required. 

In the army of Alexander the Macedonian there was 
a man whose name was Alexander, who trembled when 
the battle raged. The conqueror said to him: "How 
canst thou bear the name of Alexander? Drop thy 
cowardice or drop thy name." Men should live for 
Christ or drop the name Christian. We are redeemed, 



158 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



hence are partakers of the "divine nature." 2 Pet. 
1:4, in which we were created. Gen. 1 : 26. 

It is much easier for us to be like God than it is 
to be like any man who is considered great. A "dear 
child" will think more of its parents than of any one 
else. Though king, queen, or president come into the 
home, he regards his parents as greater than all these. 
It is not enough to refrain from being unkind ; we must 
be kind. See ' ' doing good ' ' in Chap. 4 : 28. It is not 
sufficient to "not walk in sin;" we must "walk in 
love." See Verse 2. 

Verse 2.— Walk— Same with Chap. 2:2. 

Love — Same with Chap. 2 : 4. See alse Verse 1. 

Christ — Same with Chap. 1 : 3. 

Loved us — Same with Chap. 2 : 4. 

Hath given Himself — paradidomi — to give over to; 
given Himself up. 

Compare with Chap. 4 : 28 ; 1 : 17. 

Offering — prosphora — what is borne forward, or 
towards. A bringing to; applying; that which is 
brought to a person or thing. 

And sacrifice — a slaughter; slaughtered animal. 

"Offering" denotes His presenting Himself to the 
Father in behalf of humanity. "Sacrifice signifies 
that which was done to Him when He was brought 
forward. 

Sweet smell — euodia — sweet odor. 

Savor — osme — odor, smell. "For an odor of sweet 
smell." Same with 2 Cor. 2:15; Phil. 4:18. 

Incense of man apart from Christ is an abomina- 
tion unto God, Isa. 1 : 13, but Christ was a sweet odor 
to the God of love. Matt. 3 : 17. Christ also loved us, 
Verse 25, and "gave Himself for us." Gal. 1:4; 
1 Tim. 2:6; Tit. 2:14. "He offered up Himself to 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 



159 



God through the Eternal Spirit." Heb. 9 : 14. " Bound 
with those in bonds. ' ' Heb. 13 : 3. No other way to 
fulfill Christ 's law, Gal. 6 : 2, except through love. 
Rom. 13 : 10. This is ' ' the end of the commandment. ' ' 
1 Tim. 1 : 5. Men will give up their money, but 
Christ gave "Himself." He offered Himself. Heb. 
7 : 27 ; 9 : 14, 28. A sacrifice. 1 Cor. 5:7; Heb. 9 : 26. 

"Imitate God, and live a life of love just as the 
Christ did." — Twentieth Century New Testament. 

Verse 3. — Fornication — porneia — whoredom. Illicit 
connections between unmarried persons. Unchastity. 

Uncleanness — akatharsia — whatever is opposed to 
purity. Unnatural practices. See Rom. 1 : 24. Sodomy. 
Bestiality. 

Covetousness — pleonexia — greed; the wish to have 
more. Same with ' ' greediness ' ' in Chap. 4 : 19. 

Named — same with Chap. 1 ? 21. 

Becometh saints — prepd — that which is proper. "It 
is unbecoming for you, as Christ's people, even to men- 
tion them." — Twentieth Century New Testament. 

Uncleanness and covetousness are so nearly related 
that covetousness, or the word from which it is trans- 
lated, is used by early writers for "sins of impurity." 
For "covetousness," see Col. 3:5. 

Christianity is opposed to all manner of sins it 
matters not by what name they are called. Foul 
practices must not secure the least admission among 
God's people. Such God will judge. Heb. 13:4. 

Terse 4. — Filthiness — aischrotes — baseness ; obscen- 
ity; anything dishonorable; shamelessness. 

Foolish talking — morologia — foolish discourse; silly 
talking; the talk of fools. The words from which this 
and "filthiness" are here translated are found nowhere 
else in the New Testament. 



160 BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 

Jesting — eutrapelia — the behavior of a joker. 

Joking-— the work of a glib tongue. To be always 
ready with an answer or repartee; an unfair turn to 
the statements of another; trifling witticism. Found 
nowhere else in the New Testament. 

Convenient — aneko — to have come up to; to be be- 
coming. Same with Phm. 8: ''Not convenient" — 
quite out of place. 

Rather — mallon — substitute for; in place of. 

Giving of thanks — eucharistia — thanks giving ; thank- 
fulness. Same with ' 1 thankfulness ' ' in Acts 24 : 3. The 
same word is translated "thanksgiving" ten times, and 
* ' thanks ' ' about four times. * ' Thanks ' ' in the following 
texts is from charis — same with "grace" in Chap. 1:2. 
Luke 6:32, 33, 34; 1 Cor. 15:57; 2 Cor. 2:14; 8:16; 
9:15; 1 Pet. 2:19. 

The silly talk of the glib tongue is sure to sap all 
the spirituality of all who indulge it. "In a multitude 
of words there wanteth not sin. ' ' Prov. 10 : 19. When 
it is understood that even the "thought of foolishness," 
or "foolish thought," is sin, Prov. 24:9, it is readily 
seen why God places such nonsense in the same catalogue 
with whoredom and all uncleanness. Those who in- 
dulge these have no part in the kingdom of God. Gal. 
5:19-21. 

Verse 5. — Know — to be sure. Same with Chap. 
3:19. 

Whoremonger — pornos — a fornicator; one who runs 
after a harlot ; also a catamite. Same with ' ' fornication ' ' 
in 1 Cor. 6:18; 10:8; Rev. 2:14; 2:20; 17:2; 18:3, 9. 

Unclean — akathartos — impure. Same with Luke 
4:33. See Chap. 4:19 and Verse 3 of this chapter. 
Sa^e with "foul" in Mark 9:25; Rev. 18:2. And 
"filthy" in Rev. 17:4. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 161 



Covetous man — pleonektes — one very greedy of 
gain; ever wishing for more. See " greediness ' ' in 
Chap. 4 : 19. In 1 Cor. 5 : 10, 11 ; 6 : 10 it is the same 
with this word. 

Idolater — eiddloatres — worshiper of idols. To be 
greedy for gain is "idolatry." 

Inheritance — same with Chap. 1 : 14. Same with 
Matt. 21 : 38 ; 1 Peter 1 : 4. 

Kingdom — basileia — dominion. Same with Luke 
1 : 33, which see. 

Christ and God — see Chap. 1:1, 2. 

The covetous man can not be of God. He is an 
idolater. Money is his god. 

Whatever finds exercise in Christ is realized by all 
who are one with Him. We are heirs of God through 
Christ, Gal. 4:7; Eom. 8:17, and "joint-heirs" with 
Christ. Rom. 8 : 17. He will not become a partaker 
with men in their evil doings. To admit evil "men" 
into His glory is to admit their "sins" into His right- 
eousness. Therefore none such may enter into his 
kingdom. 

Verse 6. — Deceive you — apatao — to cheat, trick, out- 
wit, beguile ; to be led by deception. 

Yain words — kenos — empty words; words without 
meaning. 

Because of — on account of such sins. Same with 
Chap. 4:18. 

Wrath of God — Same with Chap. 2:3. Compare 
with Chap. 4:26, 31; 6:4. 
. Children of disobedience — Same with Chap. 2 : 2. 
Children of disobedience are the children of wrath. 
Wrath of God "cometh," not "will come." It is as 
surely on the way as if already brought down upon the 
guilty.. "He that doeth righteousness is righteous." 
11 



102 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



1 John 3:7. He that doeth sin is sinful. 1 John 3 : 8. 

V erse 7 —Partaker— Same with Chap. 3:6. See 
Yerse 11. 

Not to oppose transgressors is to embolden them. 
To partake with them is to harden them. Such are 
unfruitful to the soul life. This is a shameful partner- 
ship. To have fellowship with sinners is to share with 
them in their reprobation. Fellowship God and share 
His glory, and not evil men who share His vengeance. 
It is fraud to conceal a fraud. He who panders is 
guilty of whoredom. He who knowingly receives stolen 
goods is guilty of the theft. Pilate and Judas were 
guilty of crucifying the Christ though neither of them 
drove the nails that fastened Him to the tree. He who 
derides another for doing that which is good and pure 
is as guilty as if he actually allured such an one into 
sin. He who defends another's sin has the same guilty 
heart. He who labors not to destroy sin, is guilty of 
sin's presence. He who raises no warning is guilty of 
the calamity that follows. He who denies food is guilty 
of the death of the starving man. He who prays not 
against sin is guilty with him who pleads for it. He 
who gives not of his means and influence to enlighten 
the world, is guilty of the ignorance and darkness that 
are in the world. 

Verse 8. — Sometime darkness — skotos — gloom; dark- 
ness of death; blindness, ignorance. 

Now are ye light — phos — radiance. Not merely en- 
lightened from the Lord, but with the radiance which 
enlightens others. In union with Christ who is the 
Light of the world. John 8: 12. 

Children — Same with Chap. 2 : 3. 

Light — Same as above. 

Darkness is not only uncomfortable, it is dangerous. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 163 

The path of life lies along rough ways. Snares are 
laid in dark places. Darkness has horrors. Gen. 
15 : 12. Not one step can be taken with absolute safety 
in the darkness. Christ the "Light of the World" is 
"formed within" the Christian. It is His light. The 
fruit of the Spirit is in "goodness," in which there can 
be no fornication. In righteousness in which there 
can be no uncleanness. In truth in which there can be 
no foolishness. The pure soul looks only for that which 
will please God. 

"Live as those who are at home in the light." 
Twentieth Century New Testament. Do not stagger at 
truth as bats and owls evade the light. They are not at 
home in the light. 

Verse 9. — Fruit — Jcarpos — in general; any produce; 
results; profits of a thing. Some older manuscripts 
read, "the fruit of the light." In contrast with lives 
in the darkness. "The result of lives lived in the 
light." — Twentieth Century New Testament. 

All goodness — agathosune — every form of goodness. 
Same with Rom. 15 : 14. 

Righteousness — Same with Chap. 4 : 24. 

And truth — Same with Chap. 1 : 13, 

Christians as the light of the world, reflecting the 
light of the Christ, must show forth all kinds of good- 
ness. Their light is "light in Him." In darkness and 
sin men are known by their actions. When they become 
followers of Christ they will walk as having been en- 
lightened and as those who enlighten. 

Verse 10. — Proving — dokimazd — to try, to search, to 
test, examine, approve, sanction; to hold as good, pure, 
useful. 

Acceptable — euarestos— well pleasing. Same with 
"please" in Tit. 2:9. Read also 1 Thess. 5: 21; 1 John 



164 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



4 : 1. The Word of God is the standard by which we 
test or prove all things in the realm of the religion of 
Christ. Isa. 8 : 20. 

Rome in her declining days clung to the worship of 
her older and more glorious days. She denounced the 
ingratitude of forsaking the gods under whom she had 
become empress of the world. The following was the 
objection they urged: "If the gods have led us into 
great blessings when we worshiped them in different 
form, how may we expect future good unless we remain 
under such form of guidance?" 

The same problem seems to perplex many minds of 
more modern times. "My father was brought to suc- 
cess while he believed certain things. Why can not I be 
successful and study no more questions than those con- 
tained in his catechism?" 

The ages are advancing. Man must advance. We 
have the presentations of the gods and the experiences 
of cur fathers. Why will an advance step insult the 
gods who were followed by our fathers so far as the 
times would permit human strength to follow? Why 
would the glory of another star in our sky reveal a 
lack of respect for our fathers who led us by the hand 
until their burdens were laid down? When one soldier 
drops the flag, shall not another take it up and bear it 
onward to the conflict ? 

Our fathers dropped the standard before the battle 
was half won, or perfect victory was in view. Shall 
we not gather up this standard of perfect love and 
liberty and bear it onward in the face of new enemies 
our fathers never saw, and to new conflicts of which 
they never dreamed? Shall we not rather disregard 
the spirits of our fathers if we lift not the burdens 
which bore down their failing forms, and hasten to 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 165 

plant the colors nearer the eminence towards which 
they had set their faces? The law of life is exacting. 
It demands a continual gathering of interest in order 
to preserve the principle. No blessing can be retained 
apart from another blessing that preserves the former 
one. Life must be a continual advancement in the 
world of possessions. It is no graft for the mind to 
seek new territory. Conquest must be the aim. A 
mortal conflict is waging. The inactive must perish, 
either by invasion, or as Rome did, by turning upon 
herself and preying upon her own life. 

The great mistake of the past seems to have rested 
in the fact that men did not distinguish between the 
ology and religion. Theology is the science of doc- 
trines. "With all other sciences it must of necessity be 
progressive. It may come near the line of true religion. 
It may be foreign to the religion of the Bible. 

True religion is love to God and man. This is not 
progressive. The reason it seems to be progressive lies 
in the fact that men who possess it must ever explore 
for new territory wherein they may plant this principle 
of life. They must study man to find better ways 
of applying its benefits to its needs. Theology is 
often out of harmony with all other sciences and the 
true religion, but true religion is never out of harmony 
with true science or the Bible. Theology searches for 
truths. True religion searches for worthy objects upon 
which it may bestow an everlasting principle. 

Men seem to think they can not change their views 
with reference to theology without changing in religion 
too. This is a very great mistake. "Why," then you 
ask, "is it necessary to pay attention to theology at 
all?" Because the clearer our theology the greater 
and better our vision with reference to objects upon 



166 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



which to bestow our religion. If theology is clouded or 
deficient, our opportunities for application in a prac- 
tical way in the field of love are limited to that extent. 

A man may possess true love in spirit and still be 
dependent upon some revelation of " truth to make 
him free" in its application as regards his fellow man. 
True religion ever searches for, and receives truth from 
any source that will open up the way for its advance- 
ment among men in whose souls is the soil of its life. 
If a man finds that he has held that which is erroneous, 
or sees that some truth is yet without his circle, he does 
not discard what truth he has held when he acknowl- 
edges that he has been in the dark respecting that one 
thing. The acceptance of this truth will only make him 
the more secure in all truths formerly held. A man 
does not change his religion or faith when he discards 
sectarianism and steps into the unity and freedom of 
the one "body of Christ." He only proves his union 
with Christ when he accepts all truth as it is made 
manifest. 

Verse 11. — Fellowship — sughoinoneo — to be a joint 
partner with. 

Unfruitful — akarpos — without fruit; barren; un- 
profitable as a blasted fruit tree. 

It is impossible for sin to be fruitful. It is terminated 
within itself, hence it is better expressed as "works." 
Gal. 5: 19. It is the "works" of sin. It is the "fruit 
of the Spirit" Gal. 5:22. The only fruit of sin is 
that which in no sense is fruit, namely, destruction 
and death of the good and pure. Sin is "darkness" 
because its father is the prince of darkness. Chap. 
6:12. The fruit of the Spirit is one fruit — love to 
God. The great Ornithologist, M. Audubon, produced 
drawings and descriptions of American birds. This 



OF TOE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 167 

was his sole object, but he had to make a living by 
painting portraits and doing other kinds of work. 
He traversed frozen waters, forests, canebrakes, jungles, 
prairies, mountains, and pestilential bogs. But whatever 
he was doing his one aim was the history of all Amer- 
ican birds. One "fruit." Whatever Christians are 
engaged in in the material world their "one fruit" is 
the pleasure of God. 

Works — Same with Verse 8. 

Rather — to the contrary. Same with Chap. 4 : 28. 

Reprove — elegcho — to convict, to expose. Same with 
"reprove" in John 16:8; 2 Tim. 4:2. Luke 3:19. 
Same with Verse 13. Same with "reproof" in 2 Tim. 
3:16. Same with "convince" in John 8:46; 1 Cor. 
14:24; Tit. 1:9; James 2 :9. 

"Take no part in deeds of darkness, from which 
nothing good can come, but on the contrary expose 
them." — twentieth Century New Testament. Not only 
do "not partake," but expose them. See Verse 7 for 
fuller explanation. 

"What profit hath he that hath labored for the 
wind?" Eccl. 5:16. Read Matt. 5:16. 

"Sin when it is finished bringeth forth death." 
James 1 : 15. It produces hardness of heart and blind- 
ness of mind. Heb. 3 : 13. 

Many declare they indulge certain sinful gratifica- 
tions, as the low theatre, table of chance, etc., for a 
little pastime, a little treat. What would such persons 
think if I were to tell them that "it is not my general 
habit, but I eat a little crow and a little buzzard at 
times for a little dessert, a little refreshment, a little 
change?" 

Verse 12. — Is a shame — aischron — a base thing; a 
degrading thing. "It is degrading indeed." Twentieth 
Century New Testament. 



16S 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



Speak — lego — to lay out, say; to place in order; to 
arrange one before another; to reckon up. 

The "speaking of" here evidently refers to the 
naming or rehearsing of these evil things without re- 
proving them. Even to "reprove them" would neces- 
sitate a reference to them in some manner. 

Secret — kruphe — secretly; behind the doors, or 
screen. 

Many things done by those who live in sin are too 
shameful to name except it be for the purpose of re- 
proof. "When these things are exposed they are made 
manifest that they are of evil origin and have no lot 
with the pure, or with those who "are at home in the 
light." The very countenances of such, "declare 
their sins as Sodom and hide them not. ' ' Isa. 3 : 9. 

"In the Museum at Naples are placed many curious 
things taken from the two old cities, Pompeii and 
Herculaneum. Some were too foul for the eye of 
decency to behold unless it be for a lesson to show the 
depravity of man in sin. These are placed in a room 
apart, and people are not allowed to enter this room 
without special permission from the authorities. 

We are often disgusted and chagrined when we 
hear professed Christians relate what they used to do 
when they were in sin, very much as an old soldier 
relates his adventures in war. It is "a shame." See 
Rom. 1 : 7. 

Verse 13. — All things that are reproved — same with 
Verse 11. "Everything which has its true character 
made manifest." — Twentieth Century Neiv Testament. 

Made manifest — phanerod — to be seen in the light. 

Light — same with Verse 8. "As clear as light." 
— Twentieth Century New Testament. 

"Whatsoever doth make manifest is light." What- 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 



169 



ever reveals things in their true character is light. "It 
is the true light." This is found in the "Word of God. 
Ps. 119 : 105 ; Prov. 6 : 23 ; 15 : 31. 

Verse 14. — Wherefore He saith — that is why it is 
said. 

Saith — Same with "speak" in Verse 12. 

Awake — egeiro — to wake up, to rouse, to stir, to get 
up from bed. 

Sleepest — katheudo — to sleep; to lie abed; to be at 
rest; quiet; still; inactive. 

Arise — anistemi — to make to stand up. Same with 
"stand" in Acts 14:10. 

The dead— Same with Chap. 1 : 20. See Luke 9 : 60, 
for special comment on dead as used here. 

Christ — Same with Chap. 1 : 3. See Luke 2 : 11. 

Give thee light — epiphano — to appear upon, or to 
shine upon. 

"Awake thou that sleepest" refers to God's own 
people. 

"Arise from the dead" refers to unbelievers, or 
those dead in sins. 

Christ gives light. He is the centre of light. Mai. 
4:2. 

Those who "are at home in the evil one," are dead. 
They are commanded to arise, by God who has the 
resurrecting power, from this state of spiritual death 
and Christ would shine upon them. Those who are not 
dead should "walk" circumspectly, or accurately, not 
in foolishness as do fools, but in a sober and wise man- 
ner that they may know the command to repent is not 
intended for them. 

Many religious poeple talk in their sleep. Such 
are unconscious of their real condition. This makes 
them careless. "Awake thou," not another. Read 



170 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



Prov. 6:9, 10 ; 10 : 5. The religious sleeper is de- 
scribed in Isa. 29 : 8. 

Verse 15. — Walk — same with Chap. 2 : 2. 

Circumspectly — akribos — accurately, pointedly, 
strictly, exactly. 

Fools — asophos — unwise. In Prov. 1 : 21, it is kesil 
— self-confident. Ps. 14 : 1, nahal — empty person. 
Eccl. 10 : 3, sakal — thick-headed. Luke 24 : 25, anoetos 
— thoughtless. Luke 11 : 40, aphrdn — heedless, thought- 
less. 

But as wise — sophos — wise, skillful, clever; one who 
has natural abilities ; prudent. 

i 'Be extremely careful then, as to your daily lives/ ' 
— Twentieth Century New Testament. 

The man in sin wanders at random. The man of 
God must walk accurately, or by prescribed rule. Not 
walk by "feeling" but by "rule." Read Prov. 19:2; 
Acts 9:31; Prov. 23:17; 4:25; Ps. 119:59. Get 
the right guide. Prov. 3:5, 6. 

"If a fool's ship will not be ruled by a rudder, it 
must be ruled by the rock." 

Verse 16. — Redeeming — eragorazo — to acquire out of 
the forum. Same with Gal. 3 : 13 ; 4 : 5 ; Col. 4 : 5. 

Time — same with Chap. 1 : 10. 

Days — hemerai — all the days. 

Are evil — (ho) poneros — the evil; in a bad state of 
things; that which produces hardship; painful. 

Time is precious. The forum was a public place in 
which causes were publicly tried. It was a court or 
tribunal. It was also the common resort of the people 
for either business or pleasure. It is used as the word 
of the text expresses it, "the place to buy for one's 
self." "By good works you shall buy for yourself 
time from the forum of God's justice." The people 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 



171 



of Rome who were given to good works had no time 
lost before the courts of the forum. The time bad men 
lost there in trial, good men could spend in the enjoy- 
ments of home and peace. All such time is lost. The 
Christian must "make the most of every opportunity," 
(Twentieth Century New Testament) , buying up the 
wasted days by undoing the evil he has done, as far as 
possible, and by doing good since the days are evil, and 
demand the more accurate lives. The "days are evil" 
and temptations are abundant. We shall, if not careful, 
spend much of our time before the tribunal of God plead- 
ing for remission, and over sins that can not be undone. 
The more sins, the more time will we lose at the forum. 

Time is said to be a "measured portion of dura- 
tion." Eternity is an unmeasured duration. We have 
different ways of measuring time. One way is by our 
passions. Although our passions are very wild and 
little to be depended upon for accurate calculations, 
we are ever accepting their count. When we are over- 
taken by an impatient passion, even minutes are length- 
ened out almost beyond our endurance. When regret 
stalks through our mind it stirs us to count long periods 
as having passed with such swiftness as to appear as a 
"little dream." Minutes and hours are not counted, 
and years are as "a tale that is told." When clouds 
hide our sun of cheerfulness and we are under gloom 
made by the spirit's heaviness, then it is that minutes 
become to us as hours, and bring greater burdens than 
whole weeks have done before. If there are seasons of 
pleasure we covet longer duration in which we may in- 
dulge our desires, and sometimes we murmur because 
the time is so soon spent. Forget not, though, in some 
sober thought to reflect that this rule will not apply 
outside of our own passions. Think not that our pas- 



172 BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 

sions will retard the great wheel that is rolling us 
onward; nor will they quicken the revolutions of the 
wheels of life's progress. These never pause nor hasten. 
The same calm, unchangeable sweep is bearing us 
onward towards the Eternal Forum, where we shall 
pay the price in full for all time wasted in sin. Time 
is not touched by the anxious beating of human hearts. 
Time is deaf when we fret, nor will it hear when we 
entreat. It matters not how we use its hours it 
strikes them off just the same. In this world there are 
hearts that rejoice and hearts that are miserable, but 
time drives over the heads of all with impartial speed. 
It registers those opportunities given to souls who 
declare they have no opportunity worth recording. 
Time leaves its "mile stones" along the way as proof 
that each have received their due portion, and that 
none have received more. 

We measure time by the comparisons of the mind — 
its judgments instead of its passions. When the beau- 
tiful flower of youth is cut down in full bloom of its 
glory, we lament that time was so short. If the 
four-score mark is reached we feel that Providence has 
been good to spare so long. Thus we measure in 
comparison with our ordinary stay upon earth. But 
if we compare with the oak of the forest or the hills of 
the "ages," we find that it is entirely our own mind 
which is the ground for our conclusions. 

Remember the old Roman legend. A sibyl came to 
the palace of Tarquin II., bearing nine volumes for 
which she demanded a high price. Her offer was 
declined. She went away and burnt three of the 
precious books. Returning, she offered the remaining 
six books, but asked the same price she had asked for 
the nine. Her proposition was again rejected. Again 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 173 

she departed, burning three more of the books. Once 
more she returned and offered the three books for the 
same price asked for the nine. Tarquin was startled 
at so strange conduct of the merciless sibyl. He ad- 
vised with his augurs, and bought the books, which 
proved to be the invaluable "Sibylline Verses." The 
chance of obtaining those other six priceless volumes 
was gone forever. Buy up your opportunities. They 
will never be offered so cheaply again. Each time the 
sibyl returns there is less to offer, while the price 
never diminishes. Beware, sinner! Buy your time 
now. 

Terse 17. — Wherefore — for this same reason. 

Unwise — aphron — without a mind; without common 
sense; senseless. Compare with Verse 15. 

Understanding — suniem — consider; to send to- 
gether; to set together; to take in. To. bring an out- 
ward object into connection with the inward sense. 

Will of the Lord — same with Chap. 1:1, 5, 11 ; 6:6. 

To know the will of God is to keep His command- 
ments. 1 John 2:4. 

Verse 18. — Drunk — methusko — to begin to be soft- 
ened; to drink freely. 

Wine — oinos — grape juice. For full comment see 
Luke 1:15. 

Excess — asotia — prodigality, debauchery. 

Filled— same with Chap. 1 : 23 ; 3 : 19 ; 4 : 10. 

This is a prohibition of any and all intoxicants 
upon the ground that all such lead to debauchery. 
Temperance is "total abstinence from all things inju- 
rious, and a moderate use of those things necessary." 
It is not possible for temperance to exist where there 
is the smallest use of that which is injurious. Any 
one filled with the Spirit has no room for wine. 



174 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



In the building of the ancient House of God, David 
cries, "Who then is willing to consecrate — to fill his 
hands — this day unto the Lord ? " 1 Chron. 29 : 5. He 
who has his "hands full" of his own business has no 
time to assist others. He who has his "hands fuir' 
in the service of God, has no time for the service of 
the devil. The best of people need to be cautioned 
against the worst of sins. A small beginning leads to 
excess. A light wind will increase until it causes a 
raging sea. Prov. 20 : 21. Even a wise man becomes a 
fool when he is drunk. The mysterious passions of the 
human soul which call for that fuller life only found 
apart from isolation, in company with other human 
beings, is to be satisfied in singing to and worshiping 
God with other men instead of trying to find it in 
drunkenness and riot. "Wine maketh the heart glad." 
Ps. 104 : 15, so the Spirit-filled soul rejoipes and 
is glad. In this there is no excess. Then "drink 
abundantly, beloved." Cant. 5:1. Wine appears 
to make a man stronger for a time. "The joy of the 
Lord is our strength. ' ' Neh. 8 : 10. See Isa. 5 : 11. 
Not filled with "spirits," but with "the Spirit." God 
"hath set the world in their (men's) heart." Eccl. 
3 : 11. The word ' ' world ' ' is from olom — the same 
word rendered "eternal" in Isa. 60: 15. It is rendered 
"everlasting" more than sixty times in the older 
Scriptures, and "evermore" eight times. God has 
placed Eternity in man's life. Each human life is as 
great as Eternity. How much greater then is the soul 
of man than many perishable worlds like this on which 
we stay for a time. The world is not eternal. It 
shall "pass away." Nothing but an eternal spirit 
can fill an eternal spirit. Hence the warning, "Use 
the world as not abusing it. " 1 Cor. 7 : 31. Man 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIAXS. 175 

abuses the world when he undertakes to make it fill 
an eternal space. He who trys to make material things 
satisfy an everlasting spirit, is stretching the world 
beyond what was intended by the Creator. It was 
never intended for that purpose. It is only to pay 
the expenses until man passes through and out to his 
real destiny. 

Drunkenness. The saloon is infidel. It would close 
every church in the land. It is filthy in words and 
deportment. It extinguishes the fires of shame. It is a 
most fearful hinderance to Christian work of reform. 
Drunkenness and prostitution go hand in hand. 

There is over a quarter of a million retail liquor 
dealers in our country; $2,254,606,179 go over these 
bars in one year. The average for each saloon in one 
year is $8,852. The average per day for each saloon 
for every day in the year is $24.25. 

It is a liar. It claims to be honorable. No man 
was ever saved by the saloon. Devil can not cast out 
devil. 

It means that 2,000,000 boys of each generation 
must start on the road to hell through the saloon. 
Of these, more than 115,000 die every year. Out of 
these 2,000,000 boys at least 1,800,000 will be married. 
This means 3,600,000 unhappy persons. Each husband 
and wife will have a father and mother. (I have put 
the estimate so low that these figures will not come 
near the real thing.) This means 7,200,000 more, or 
10,800,000 injured. Each family these boys leave will 
average at least two to a family. This means 14,400,- 
000 more, or 32,400,000 souls affected. Each family of 
which these boys are the head will average at least two 
children. This means 3,600,000 more, or 35,000,000 
souls directly affected. - Suppose each of these have but 



176 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



one friend who is affected. This means 14,400,000 'more, 
or 28,800,000 souls directly affected by the cursed traffic. 
In the census of 1900 there were but 76,000,000 persons 
in the United States. Those directly affected would 
mean as many as there is in the population of New 
York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas, Indiana, Missouri, 
California, Massachusetts, and Ohio. Those who fight 
not against the saloon, please turn back and ponder the 
comments on Verse 7. 

Verse 19. — Speaking — same with Chap. 4:25. 

To yourselves — to one another. 

Psalms — psalmos — a pulling or twitching, or twang- 
ing with the fingers. 

The sound of the cithara; a harp. A song sung 
to a stringed instrument. Same with Col. 3 : 16. 

In Jas. 5:13 it is psallo — to sing songs of praise, 
whether accompanied with instrumental music or not, 
but especially with instruments. 

Hymns — humnos — songs of praise, usually to the 
gods. 

Spiritual — same with Chap. 1:3. 

Songs — ode — to introduce another's words; a song. 
The general term for lyric pieces. ' ' Sacred songs. ' ' 
Same with Col. 3 : 16. 

Singing — ado — to sing an ode. See ' ' song ' ' as above. 
Same with Col. 3:16. "Sing" in Rom. 15:9. 1 Cor. 
14 : 15, is psallo — to sing praise with a musical instru- 
ment. Same with Jas. 5 : 13. 

Melody — psallo — to play on a stringed instrument. 
See "sing" as above. 

Heart — same with Chap. 3 : 17. 

The above might well be considered by those who 
would create division or strife about the using of 
musical instruments. The word "hymns" refers to the 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 177 



songs sung in praise of the gods or heroes. In this 
case it is to be sung to the praise of the true God 
only. Though sung with an instrument and in praise 
of the true God, songs must be spiritual, sacred, in 
their composition and in the manner in which they are 
rendered. Such a service only can make melody in 
the heart, or cause the divine fingers to tune and use 
the spirit in the glory of the higher life. Other music 
may please the ear, but the true music causes melody 
in the inner man. For this reason we need "sacred" 
songs. Praise is the only part of the service of the 
Church that is to continue forever. 

To the Lord. As in all other services, God's glory 
must be the real end of all singing. See Verse 11. 

Augustine said, "It is not crying, but loving that 
sounds in the ears of God." We must sing with a 
pure heart, minding what we sing. It must be with 
the "spirit and with the understanding." 1 Cor. 
14 : 15. If the religious world would not sing untruth- 
fully, many of the song books now in use should be 
revised. If it is to be a ' ' noise unto the Lord," it 
must be a "joyful noise." 

Verse 20. — Thanks — same with Chap. 1 : 16. 

Always — pantote — at all times; under all circum- 
stances, all conditions. 

All things — see Rom. 8 : 28. Whole, entire, as the 
whole truth, the whole universe; altogether; the whole 
matter, in general, generally. This expresses the same 
with * ' the whole creation ' ' in Rom . 8 : 22. All things 
which God has made. The purpose of God, or that 
He has set before the world, the revelation of the end 
proposed, must be like God. He is good, and so must 
be His creation and His revelations to men. Hence 

12 



178 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



Timothy is instructed to "Keep that good thing, the 
gospel." 2 Tim. 1: 14. 

"All things work together for good to them that 
love God." "All things" must not be pressed beyond 
the legitimate boundary as expressed in the original 
above. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. 

1 John 3:8. If the works of the devil were for our 
good, and God was to be thanked for them, He would 
not destroy them. The devil "works," but never to 
our good. For this reason Jesus came to destroy him. 
Heb. 2:14. A false teacher "works," but it is rather 
to the destruction of men who might otherwise be 
saved. Rom. 16 : 17, 18. Such destroy Christian people. 

2 Pet. 2 : 18. This is not good for people who love 
God and who have "clean escaped" the power of sin. 
But "all things," the w T hole creation of God, the uni- 
verse, works for the good of the pure, and for this 
God is to be thanked. The stars in their heavens in- 
struct the pure. Notice, Paul does not say to the 
Romans, "it shall work," but it "works" now. There 
is not one thing in the whole creation of God when 
viewed from His viewpoint, that does not work to- 
gether with the machinery of the universe for the 
good of those who are one with God. The reason is 
plain when it is considered that these were made for 
God's own pleasure. Rev. 4:11. We are His sons, 
we view His creation with Him. They work for us 
the same pleasure. This is why our thanks are due 
to God always for all of His creation. Sin, disease, 
afflictions, death, and sorrow, are all the devil's work. 
We can not thank God for them. We may thank Him 
for His grace that enables to bear or conquer them. 
We praise God because of His excellencies: we thank 
Him for His benefits. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE E'PHESXANS. 



179 



Verse 21. — Submitting — hupotasso — to set in array- 
under, to arrange under. Same with verse 22. Rom. 
10 : 3 ; Jas. 4 : 7. 

Yourselves. See Verse 19. 

One to another — allelon — each other. 

Fear of God — phobos — terror, fear. See Luke 
1 : 12. In 2 Tim. 1:7, it is deilia — timidity. 

Older manuscripts read, "in the fear of Christ. " 
There is "strife" when one seeks to be the greatest. 
Luke 22 : 24. All who are subject to the laws of Christ 
are subject to that which is for the good of the whole 
body, hence "subject to one another." Men were to 
be equal by nature. There is a possible equality 
through the redemption of Christ. See "unity" in 
Chap. 4:3, 4. 

Verse 22. — Wives — gune — a woman ; married 
woman. 

Submit — see Verse 21. 

"Submission" is the word used with reference to the 
wife's relation to the husband. The word "obey" is 
used to distinguish the child's duty towards the parent. 

' ' Obedient, ' ' in Tit. 2:5, is the same with the word 
"submit" in this text. 

Wives are to submit to their own husbands as one 
Christian submits to another, and in no other sense. 
' • Obedience " in 1 Cor. 14 : 34, is also the same word 
here rendered "submit." 

How do true Christians submit themselves unto the 
Lord? They acknowledge but one God. That the 
pleasure of the one God is to be sought before any- 
thing else. They know that Christ with godly jealousy 
does not, and can not permit the joyful pleasure of 
that heavenly congress unless every cord of affection is 
entwined with the issues of His loving heart. Christ 



130 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



is a faithful and true husband. He watches carefully 
the beautiful characteristics of His spotless bride. In 
her state of chastity He bestows upon her the highest 
degree of conjugal love. Submission and trueness are 
the basis of all spiritual, conjugal excellence. The 
wife is to be true to her one husband as the Christian 
is to the one Christ. There is not even a hint in the 
New Testament that a wife should "obey" her hus- 
band in any other sense than one Christian should 
obey another Christian. Neither party is to have 
access to any except their own companion. They have 
within their domestic circle a world of their own. 
Here no one else has a right to come. Over this 
boundary line they themselves have no right to go. 
What would human life be if this heavenly law were 
universally observed? A paradise indeed. 
Husband — aner — a man. 

Wives are to submit themselves unto their own 
"men," husbands, "as fit in the Lord." Col. 3:18. 

The word "wife" literally means the "weaver." 
The person who weaves. Many years ago before our 
factories were brought forth, the principal employment 
of each home was the making of cloth. Each family 
made its own cloth. The maidens spun the wool into 
threads. They are therefore called "spinsters." The 
thread was woven into cloth by the mother, who Was 
accordingly called the "weaver." The word "heir- 
loom" as applied to any old piece of furniture shows 
that the loom was at one time a most important article 
of the home. The weaver was, of course, the first or 
most important person in the work of the home. She 
is the wife to us. 

Husband means "house-band." The band of the 
home. The support of the home. He is the "band" 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 181 



that should keep the home together. Many a man 
who is married is not a * ' husband." They are no 
band for the home. In many cases the wife is the real 
husband or "band of the home." Such men strip the 
home of its comforts and scatter the joys as the 
drunkard scatters the furniture among the pawn- 
brokers. 

Verse 23. — Husband — same with Verse 22. 

"Women, submit yourselves to your own men." 
' ' Men, love your own women. ' ' The words ' ' wife ' ' and 
"husband" were unknown at the time Paul wrote this. 

Head of the wife. Same with Chap. 1 : 22. As 
Christ is the Head, husband, or house-hand of the 
Church, so should the man be the protecting and 
guiding force of the home. 

Head of the Church— see Chap. 1:22-23. 

Saviour — soter — a preserver. 

"For a man is the head of his wife in the same 
way as the Christ is the Head of His Body, the 
Church — He being indeed its Saviour." — Twentieth 
Century New Testament. A man is to preserve, or save 
his wife, not to rule her. See Verse 22 under "sub- 
mit" See 1 Cor. 11:3. 

Verse 24.— The Church— see Chap. 1 : 2h. 

Subject — same with "submit" in Verses 21-22. 

"But just as the Church submits to the Christ, 
so also should wives submit to their own husbands, 
in everything." — Twentieth Century New Testament. 
This is a safe submission. Wives need not fear it. 

Verse 25. — Husbands — men. Same with Verse 22. 

Love — same with Chap. 2 : 4. 

Wives — women. Same with Verse 22. 

The Church. See Chap. 1:22; 4:4. 

Given Himself — same with Verse 2. 



182 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



The self-sacrifice of Christ for the Church is a 
lesson for the husband. "Rule by love" is a good 
motto. In this state there would be no need for the 
injunction in Col. 3 : 19. 

"For it," should be rendered "for her." 

Verse 26. — Might sanctify — hagiazo — to set apart. 
Same with "holy" in Rev. 22: 11. 

And cleanse — katharizo — to make clean; clear. 
Same with "clean" in Matt. 8:2; 23:25; Mark 1:40; 
Luke 5:12; 11:39. Same with "purge" in Mark 
7:9; Heb. 9:14, 22. Same with "purify" in Acts 
15:9; Tit. 2:14; Heb. 9:23. 

Washing — loutron — a laver; washing vessel; a bath. 

Water — hudor — same with John 3 : 23 ; Acts 8 : 38. 
The "baptismal water." 

The Word — rhema — saying, speech. Same with 
Matt. 5:5; John 3:34; 6:63; 15:7; Rom. 10:17; 
Rev. 17:17. 

The Greek is "in the Word." The efficacy of the 
baptismal rite is "conveyed in," and by, the divine 
Word alone. It is the oracle of God. "Ye are clean 
through the word which I have spoken unto you." 
John 15 : 3. 

By this men are "born again." 1 Pet. 1 : 23. 

The "cleansing Word" by whose virtue we pass 
through the gate of baptism into the fold of Christ, 
now becomes the guarding and smiting sword to be 
used in conflict with spiritual foes. See Chap. 6 : 17. 

Verse 27. — Might present — paristemi — to set along- 
side of. 

Himself — same with Chap. 2 : 15. 
Glorious — endoxos — in glorious array. Same with 
Luke 13 : 17. 

Church. See Chap. 1 : 21. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 183 

Not having spot — spilos — no stain, no blot. Same 
with "spot" in 2 Pet. 2:13. 
Wrinkle — rhutis — crease. 
Such thing — toioutos — of this kind or sort. 
Holy — same with Chap. 1 : 4. 

Without blemish — amornos — spotless, blameless. 
Same with 1 Pet. 1:19. Same with "without spot" 
in Heb. 9 : 14. See prophecy of the Church in Cant. 
4:7. 

The Father had a Church — ecclesia — before Christ 
came to earth. When the Christ appeared the Father 
gave the congregation to Him. John 17 : 6. After the 
Son received these people, and they became His, He 
set about to save them from their sins. Matt. 1 : 21. 
As justice demanded the shedding of blood for an 
atonement, "He gave Himself" up for the ecclesia 
transferred to Him by the Father. The first reason 
He gave Himself for the ecclesia was to "sanctify" or 
set it apart. He came seeking a bride. He would 
not receive one until she was set apart from all other 
"lovers," or idols. Her whole affection must be 
turned unto Him. See Verse 22. He "set her apart" 
in order that He might "cleanse her" or make her 
clean. 

Those who hold that "sanctify" and "cleanse" ever 
mean the same one as the other, should study this text. 
Then we might read "sanctify and sanctify her," or 
"cleanse and cleanse her." But these words must not 
be confounded in this case. He desired the ecclesia 
set apart and cleansed because she was to be presented 
"alongside of Himself." He would not accept her as 
a bride until she was set apart from all things else 
and cleansed. In fact, He had no bride until He pur- 
chased her with His own blood. Acts 20 : 28. He 



184 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



would not accept her alongside of Himself as a com- 
panion until He had bought her redemption from sin. 

After he had cleansed the ecclesia in His own blood 
it was presented to him a glorious Church, or a Church 
"in her glory." His bride must be pure, without spot. 
No good man would take unto himself a wife with a 
known moral blemish, neither would Christ. Those 
who hold that the bride of Christ is polluted by "in- 
bred sin," or some imaginary corruption, should con- 
sider that Christ's wisdom and integrity place Him 
not below the best of men in the choice of that which 
is pure and honorable. As to the time Christ came into 
the possession of the Church, see Rom. 7 : 4. 

Verse 28. — So ought — opheito — be obliged to; in- 
debted. 

Wives — see Verse 22. 

Body — same with Chap. 1 : 23. 

Loveth — same with Chap. 2 : 4. 

Himself — same with Chap. 2 : 15. 

When a man chooses a wife to share with him all the 
changes of life, whether for "better or for worse," as 
a true helpmeet, he should love her as his own body. 
A true wife is set alongside of her husband as a part 
of his very existence. The more a man loves his wife 
the more he loves himself. This would be a good prin- 
ciple to be considered by those men who are self- 
lovers and self-pleasers. Submission does not mean 
subservience, or the giving up of one's individuality 
so the wife can have no wish or opinion of her own. 
No true man would value his wife for ceasing to be 
herself. Such would be no wife, helpmeet, or com- 
panion. She would be but the echo of the selfishness 
of another. She would be but a shadow. 

Verse 29. — Hated — miseo — to dislike intensely. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 185 

Meaning sometimes to love less than another, or love 
one person less than another. Luke 14 : 26. 
Flesh — same with Chap. 2:3. 

Nourisheth — ehtreppho — to rear, as to bring up 
from childhood; to rear up for one's self. 

Cherisheth — thalpo — to heat, to soften; to warm at 
the fireside; to care for in a general way. " Nourish" 
refers to the food. ' 'Cherish" refers to the external 
care, as of dressing and fostering. 

As the Lord the Church — see Verses 22, 23. Some 
older readings are 1 'the Christ" instead of "the Lord." 

It is not the natural thing for a man to dislike his 
own flesh. He will protect and feed it and treat it 
tenderly, as Christ does the Church. So should men 
treat their wives. 

As the husband and wife are one in life, so are 
Christ and His Church one in faith of the gospel and 
the hope of the glory of heaven. All true souls are 
members of Christ's body. They must not be abused 
by sinful indulgences, as is often done by nominal 
Christians. Man has very wickedly abused the sacred 
martial law handed from the portals of heaven. If 
man could but rightly appreciate the sweets found in 
the beneficence of God regarding our social realm, how 
changed would be our domestic world. In such a state 
there would be no clouds of remorse to obscure our 
moral sun, no darts of folly, lust, or crime to pierce 
the soul with the poisonous influences of hell. 

Verse 30. — For — hoti — because. 

Are members — same with Chap. 4 : 25. 

His body — see Chap. 4 : 4. 

Flesh — same with Chap. 2 : 15. 

Bones — osteon — hard, calcified tissue of the form 
of vertebrate animals. Same with Luke 24 : 39. 



186 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



Being formed out of, or of the same substance 
with. As the woman was formed of the substance of 
which man was made, so the Church is of the Christ. 

Verse 31. — For this cause — anti toutou — over 
against this; or this is the reason why. 

Leave — hataleipd — to leave behind, to leave ut- 
terly. To leave for all time. Same with Luke 5 : 28. 

Father — same with Chap. 1 : 2. 

Mother — meter — female parent; source of birth; 
origin. 

Be joined — proskollaomai — to join or unite self to. 

Wife — see verses 22, 23. 

Two — duo — two parts, two halves. 

There is a stronger bond of unity existing between 
the true husband and true wife than any other tie 
that binds kindred spirits. For this reason will a 
man leave the holy sanctuary of father and mother 
for the more heavenly sanctuary found in the heart 
of a true wife. Neither man nor woman is complete 
when isolated one from the other. Under heaven's 
ordinance these imperfect parts are united and become 
one body. 

An old author says, "A good wife should be like 
three things, which three things she should not be 
like. She should be like a snail, to keep within her 
own house; but she should not be like the snail, to 
carry all she has upon her back. She should be like 
an echo, to speak when spoken to; but she should not 
be like an echo, always to have the last word. She 
should be like the town clock, always to keep time and 
regularity; but she should not be like the town clock, 
speak so loud that all the town may hear her." 

Verse 32. — Great mystery—same with Chap. 1 : 9. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 187 



I speak — same with Verse 12. Compare with Verse 
18 and Chap. 4:25. 

Concerning — eis — with a view to; with regard to. 
Same with "for" in Acts 2:38. 

The Church— see Chap. 1:21. 

" While I quote these words out of the Scriptures, 
I use them in a higher sense." — Conybeare and How- 
son. 

Verse 33. — Nevertheless — plen — but yet, however, 
notwithstanding. "But as for you." — Twentieth Cen- 
tury New Testament. 

Notwithstanding the mystery of the Christ and 
His Church, and the union of the man and wife, 
"Let each of you love his own wife exactly as if she 
were yourself." — Twentieth Century New Testament. 

Reverence — phobeomai — terrified at displeasing ; 
afraid of disregard. 

Let the husband see that he loves his wife as him- 
self, and let the wife see that she is afraid to disre- 
gard her husband. 

"Severally each one so love," in contrast to the 
mutual love that exists between the members of the 
one Church. In order to love there must be knowl- 
edge or acquaintance. Study to know, and the more 
lovable one is the more you will love. Your love will 
increase with your knowledge, either with Christ or 
the wife. "Love is the fulfilling of the law." 



189 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



CHAPTER VI. 

Verse 1. — Children — without individual will Same 
with Chap. 2:3; 5:1; 6:4. 

Obey — hupakoud — to be submissive. Compare with 
1 'submit. ' ' Chap. 5 : 21, 22. Submission is a willing sub- 
jection. Obedience calls for action from an inferior, 
whether there is a will to comply or not. 

Parents — goneus — a begetter; one from whom an 
other is born. 

In the Lord — "as Christian children should."-- 
Twentieth Century New Testament. 

This is right — dikaios — just. Same with "right" 
in Matt. 20:4. The same word is rendered "just" in 
thirty-three places in the New Testament. It is ren- 
dered "righteous" thirty-seven times; "righteousness" 
once. 1 Cor. 15 : 34. " Righteously ' ' twice. Tit. 2 : 12 ; 
1 Pet. 2:23. 

Righteousness, or that which is just, is a natural 
law. Here the authority of revelation from God is 
added to this natural law. The latter shows what is 
just or right. In obeying a Christian parent the child 
is obeying and pleasing God. 

Verse 2. — Honor — timad — to value, prize, love, deem 
worthy; to treat honorably and reverently. 

Father — same with Chap. 1 : 2. 

Mother — same with Chap. 5 : 31. 

Commandment — eutole — thing given in charge by 
authority. 

With promise — same with Chap. 1 : 13. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIAXS. 189 



The fifth among the ten commandments (Ex. 20: 
12) was the first commandment given with a special 
promise attached as a result of obedience. The Chris- 
tian faith is not only cradled in the Christian family, 
but it there receives its strongest fortification against 
the onrushing tide of sin in future days. 

''It is a holy thing," says Disraeli, "to see a state 
saved by her young." The youth must be first saved 
before they can save. If they are saved, it must be 
through instrumentality. Christianity alone cares for 
children. It alone opens a warm bosom to the young. 
Atheism looks upon them as being as low as brutes. 
Infidelity leaves them to wander at random lest they 
catch a bias. The Romans exposed their children to 
cruelty. Ancient tribes offered them to Molech. 
Mohammedanism holds them up with the mother as 
an inferior class. Hindooism forgets her child and 
leaves it on the banks of the Ganges. The Chinese 
have been notorious baby-killers. The gospel of Christ 
alone sees them as everlasting beings and pays for 
their tuition in heaven. The nearer the world gets 
to the Christ, the mere is this manifest. In Juggernaut 
the child finds a grave ; in the mosque it finds con- 
tempt ; in infidelity it finds neglect ; in Christianity it 
finds a home. 

"Ye are God's husbandry." 1 Cor. 3:9. Hus- 
bandry means a farm. i( We are workers together 
with Him." 2 Cor. 6:1. This farm is the kingdom 
of heaven, and of such are the children. Matt. 19 : 14. 
The farmer will spend the mere time upon the most 
precious tree or plant of his domain. The children 
are the most precious plants in God's farm. He pays 
special attention to these. If we "work with Him," 
we will have the greater care for that which concerns 



190 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



Him the more. The law of Christ is the best and 
purest thing the world may know. To reject this is 
the worst offense, because it is to reject the best. The 
highest form of charity, then, is to teach the gospel, 
the best possible thing for men to give. It is best to 
teach the children, for prevention is better than cure. 
The child does not sin because it is bad. It becomes 
bad by sinning. The angels fell, not because they were 
bad, but they became devils by sinning. Sin originated 
the devil, and not the devil, sin. 

Adam sinned, not because he was evil, but he be- 
came possessed of evil through his sin. If the good 
seed is not sown in the child life, the devil will scatter 
his darnel. A republican form of government is car- 
ried on by two agencies — public opinion and public 
law. Public opinion precedes public law. The right 
training produces the right opinion. 

Much vice and crime may be traced to the nursery. 
You may think of Nero, the Roman tyrant, and of 
the son of the present Czar of Russia and his broken- 
hearted mother as examples of this kind. 

Both worlds — this one and that to come — are God's. 
Though men may have a taste of that world to come, 
obedience to present law is God's pleasure as much as 
is the angel's song before the upper throne One of 
the lamentable conditions of the "last days" is the 
"disobedience of children to parents." 2 Tim. 3:2. 
"The family is the gem cell of the nation." When 
the youth of Athens perished, a noble Grecian states- 
men said, "The commonwealth suffered as the sum- 
mer would . feel the loss of spring. ' ' If the youth of 
the land be blighted, the ripening fruitage of all 
worthy human effort is blasted. How diminished and 
blemished is the manhood of to-day because of the 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 191 

sins of former days. Shall earth be robbed and 
heaven cheated by the sins, the kidnappers of hell, 
that carry into captivity the best of God's creation? 

"I hear the voice of children singing, 
And that means love." 

When asked what was the highest in the kingdom 
of heaven, Christ brought forth a little child. There 
is the profoundest philosophy in this act of Christ's. 
Sin is but the " missing of the mark," and consists in 
acts that are prompted, very often, by instincts which 
have become perverted. Children's instincts are the 
least depraved, hence they are the nearest to the 
source of all purity. The natural child's heart, then, is 
always the truest symbol of heaven. The object of 
the training of the child is to develop this character. 
It is not merely outward obedience that is desired. 
We care but little for the moral character of the 
horse so long as he obeys the whip and stops when 
we say, "Whoa." But it is more than this with the 
child. There is no line which divides between the 
beautiful and gentle and useful. Nature draws no 
line between them. Even an apple tree must present 
a beautiful picture of flowers before it can hand up 
the basket of golden fruit. Whatever heightens and 
glorifies human nature, renders more beautiful and 
divine the human mission. Each boy and girl must be 
developed at every point of life until they will have 
that fuller experience that receives and understands 
the appeals of human want and suffering. Freedom's 
goddess holds over each head a crown of glory. But 
that crown is never put on any but a sweaty brow. 
The wide gulf that stretches between the beastly can- 
nibal and the Christian has been bridged by the cables 



192 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



of Christian education. The proper education of the 
children will mean that away in the now misty future 
they will stretch this golden bridge, till its farther end 
will rest upon the massive masonry of the Eternal, 
the Infinite. Therefore teach them to find that path 
of human endeavor, 

"That would not shrink and cower 
Before the dauntless power 
Of a fearless human will." 

There is something so infinitely sacred that lingers 
around memory's citadel with reference to home, 
parents, brothers, and sisters, that the coldest gale 
from the Arctic region of sin can not cool, or the 
hottest breath of the torrid clime of passion can never 
devour. Every little nook, the old shade tree in the 
yard, the winding path to the spring, and untold 
pictures of childhood's innocence are engraved with 
immortal characters upon the tablets of memory. 

Young friend, many a stroke of your own hands 
in loving tenderness towards mother, will brush away 
from her loving heart the cares of time, and smooth 
out the wrinkles upon the sweet angelic face. Bear 
mother's burdens now, and when she has gone from 
you, and her story of love she repeats in the world of 
immortal glory, angels will, as a result, be dispatched 
to bear your burdens when mother's silent hand in 
the stillness of death can no more meet your demands. 

Every sin you commit brings a care upon the de- 
voted heart of a kind father, the weight of which 
kills his vital power, and those locks are fast changed 
into silvery white. If you will sacrifice your own 
folly, yea, your own pleasure if need be, to bear the 
load of care for father, some dark hour when you are 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 193 



overwhelmed in the adversities of life, these sweet 
memories will come like so many seraphs of power 
from the Unseen world to bear your cares, and to roll 
back the clouds of remorse that would otherwise shut 
out the bliss of an immortal happiness. 

Verse 3. — Be well — eu — happily, rightly, well done, 
well off; morally well; honorably; propriety. 

Live long — eimi makrochronios — to be long timed; 
plenty of time allotted for the work to be done; long 
lived. 

Earth — ge — land; inhabitable land. 

This promise was made to the Jews with reference 
to the promised land. "Long upon the land which 
the Lord thy God giveth thee," Ex. 20:12, but Paul 
takes away from it the limitation of a local Canaan, 
and adapts it to the gospel times and thought. 

The principles of this law are eternally in force. 
It is either materially fulfilled or an equal blessing 
follows the obedience in some other way. No accident 
will ever apply to those in the gospel age who are 
faithful, as happened to fleshly Israel. 

Verse 4. — Ye fathers — pateres — ancestors; male 
parents. 

Provoke — parorgizo — to irritate beyond measure; to 
be made angry. 

Wrath — same with ' ' provoke ' ' in this verse. 

Bring them up — ektrepho — to nourish fully. 

The nurture — paideia — instruction, chastening, 
training, education, mental culture; civilization. 

And admonition — nouthesia — a putting into the 
mind; to warn, advise, admonish, remind, catechise. 

Paul does not intend to interfere with the correc- 
tion of children, though such chastisements should 
eause them to be angry for the time being. 
13 



194 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



Nurture and admonition. Discipline and admoni- 
tion. The first gives the child the Christian teaching 
and training in the way it should go. The second 
holds him back from the way in which he should 
not go. 

The reason why children should not be provoked. 
1 ' Lest they be discouraged. ' ' Col. 3 : 21. Discouraged 
— aihumea — to be disheartened; to lose heart. 

A distinguished metaphysician has observed, "That, 
of all the men passing through life, nine out of ten 
of them are what they are, virtuous or vicious, religious 
or irreligious, according to their education during 
childhood and youth." 

Verse 5. — Servants — doulos — a slave; bondsman; 
one born in bondage. 

Obedient — same with "obey" in Verse 1. 

Masters — kurios — lord, sir; one with the power to 
rule; having authority. 

According to the flesh — by the flesh. Those who 
are your directors according to the earthly rule. In 
contrast to your heavenly Father, or Christ your true 
Lord. 

With fear — same with Chap. 5 : 21. 

And trembling — tromos — fear, awe. "With anxiety 
and self -distrust. " — Conybeare and Howson. 

Singleness of heart — haplotes — freedom from du- 
plicity; simplicity, plainness, frankness. Same with 
Col. 3:22. 

"Rather bear the ills you have, than to fly to those 
you know not of." 

"As unto Christ," signifies that service is rendered 
because of a true spirit's prompting to duty and not 
because external circumstances enforce it. However 
wrong slavery was and is, the fact that I am wronged 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 195 

by either state or individual, does not relieve me from 
the responsibility or obligation I am under to state, 
community, or individual, that might wrong me. 
Though a man ought not to be a slave at all, he may 
be under moral obligations to those who hold him in 
bondage. 

It was many centuries after Paul penned this 
command before slavery was abolished in civilized 
lands. The Declaration of Independence was written 
by a slave holder, and signed by several who were 
living in violation of the immortal declaration of the 
equality of the rights of men. As long as slavery 
was protected by the civil laws it was absolutely right 
for those who were in servitude to be obedient to those 
over them without any deceit or hypocrisy. This was 
one of the best of opportunities to show the spirit of 
the Christ. 

Verse 6. — Eye service — ophthalmodouleia — as of the 
eye. Doing that which pleases the eye of the one 
served rather than the dignity of the spirit of the one 
who renders the service, or the right as God sees it. 
Same with Col. 3 : 22. 

Men pleasers — anthropareskos—as pleasing men 
only. Not Christ pleasers. 

As servants of Christ — same with "servant" in 
Verse 5. 

Will — same with Chap. 1 : 1. 

From the heart — psuche — soul; real life. The same 
word is rendered "soul" fifty-seven times in the New 
Testament. "Life," forty-one times. This is the only 
time it is rendered heart. 

A Christian must please the eye of God rather 
than man's. Good work, as God desires it, is ac- 
complished only when the workman puts as much of 



196 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



his soul, himself, his real life, into the work as such 
work is capable of holding. Christianity was wel- 
comed by the slaves of the pagan cities, and they came 
flocking into its embrace. The voice controlled by 
the impulse of heavenly love was heard saying, "Come 
unto Me, all ye that toil and are heavy laden, and 
I will be your rest." The animated "tool" was con- 
verted into a "brother beloved." 

Verse 7. — Good will — eunoia — kindness, good feel- 
ing; with favor; heartily; cheerfully. 

Doing service — douleuo — to serve; to be a slave. 

"As if you were working for the Master and not 
for men." — Twentieth Century New Testament. 

Christ "took the form" of a slave, Phil. 2:7, 
hence ye "are slaves to the Lord." Col. 3:24. 

Verse 8. — Knowing — same with Chap. 1 : 18. 

Whatsoever good thing — agathon — good; virtuous. 

Shall he receive — homizo — to bring. Same with 
' ' brought ' ' in Luke 7 : 37. In the end of the conflict he 
will bring with him from the Lord that which will 
witness for him in "that day." 

Whether bond — same with "servants" in Verse 5. 

Or free — eleutheros — at liberty. Same with "lib- 
erty" in 1 Cor. 7:39. 

Verse 9. — Ye masters — same with Verse 5. 

"Do the same things unto them." Treat them in 
the same spirit. Feel your responsibility to God in 
dealing with them as they should in serving you. 
The same rule is for master and servant. Paul could 
not liberate the slaves of his day, but in this appeal 
he sowed the seed that is producing the fruit of free- 
dom in every land where the gospel goes. 

Forbearing — aniemi — to send back, let away, let 
go home. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 197 

Threatening — apeile — menace, threats of punish- 
ments; braggart words. Send such away. They were 
born in the pit, let them go home. You need them 
not in the work of your God. Return them to their 
master the devil. 

Respect of persons — prosopolepsia — acceptance of 
faces. 

4 'For you know that their Master, who is yours 
also, is in heaven. ' ' 

"He recognizes no distinction between one man and 
another." — Tiventieth Century New Testament. What- 
ever an inferior, as men see them, dread of you, a 
superior Master threatens yourself with. 

The shackles of every slave has been paid for by 
the flowing streams of the white man's blood. What- 
ever service a Christian renders to his fellows, should 
be done as unto the Lord. They should expect to re- 
ceive from the Lord Himself and not from the person 
unto whom the good deed was done. None, whether 
high or low, rich or poor, should expect favors in 
return for what they do for those less fortunate in 
this world. God the Master of all is watching, and 
unto Him all must render their account, and receive 
their compensation from Him. He judges not accord- 
ing to the state or standing in the eyes of men, but 
judges after the moral state of the real life. 1 
Sam. 16:7. 

Verse 10. — Finally — loipon — what is left. For the 
rest of time; hereafter; henceforward. 

My brethren — aclelphoi — a near kinsman ; of the 
same parents. A word signifying equality. 

Be strong — endunamod — to make powerful in- 
wardly; to be strengthened. 

The power — same with Chap. 1 : 19. 



198 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



His might — ischus — strength. Same with 
" strength" in Heb. 9:17. Same with " power" in 2 
Thess. 1:9; 2 Pet. 2:11. 

"Be strengthened in union with the Lord." — Twen- 
tieth Century Neiv Testament. Worldly rank adds 
nothing to the strength of the soul. The power of 
the " Father of spirits" alone can do that. 11 Those 
that know their God shall be strong." Dan. 11:32. 

Verse 11. — Whole armor — panoplia — in full suit of 
armor. This suit consisted of shield, helmet, breast- 
plate, greaves, sword, and lance. 

May be able — dunamai — to be powerful, to have 
power. Same with 4 'power" in Rom. 16:25. 

To stand — histemi — to place, to set; to take a place 
and hold it. Same with Verses 13, 14. 

Wiles — methodeia — a method, artifice, cunning, 
fraud. From same root with 4 4 lie in wait" in Chap. 
4:14. 

~)evil— see Chap. 2:2. 

* ' Put ye on the Lord Jesus, ' ' Rom. 13 : 14. and 
you have on the ' 1 whole armor." 

Nothing but a full preparation of the Christian 
soul will enable it to hold its place against the cunning 
methods of the adversary of all men. You must be 
"complete in Him." Col. 2:10; 4:12. 

There is a Divine and Satanic armor, tempered in 
heaven and hell. These are wielded by the sons of 
light and the sons of darkness. Faith and love against 
unbelief and hate. 

Verse 12. — Wrestle not — he pale estin — the wrest- 
ling is not. 

Against flesh — towards men. 

Wrestling implies a hand-to-hand, foot-to-foot 
struggle. 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. '199 

But against principalities — arche — the first place or 
power among men. This is none other than the in- 
fluence of sin. It evidently has the first place in the 
world apart from Christ. 

Against powers — same with " power" in Chap. 1: 21. 
But here meaning ' 1 privilege " or " license. ' ' Same with 
Chap. 3 : 10. 

The rulers — kosmokrator — world ruler; lord of the 
world; lord of evil spirits. 

Of the darkness — same with Chap. 5 : 8. 

Of this world — aion — age; indefinite time. Same 
with Chap. 1 : 21. 

Spiritual wickedness — pneumatikos — poneria — 
wicked spirits; spirits of wickedness. 

In high places — epouranios — in heavenly places. 

" Spirits of wickedness." — Tiventieth Century New 
Testament. "The sovereigns of this present darkness, 
the spirits of evil." — Conybeare and Howson. "Against 
the spiritual (forces) of evil." — Rotherham. 

The Greek is literally, "The spiritual hosts of 
wickedness. ' ' 

"Stand," in Verse 11, is a military term associated 
with the armor. It is opposed to falling. A man is 
said to fall when the enemy conquers him. He must 
not run nor give place to the devil. 

"Wrestle" implies that our enemies aim at us per- 
sonally. The Christian fears not the man whom he can 
meet with equal courage in contest for the mastery. 
But such foes as are here described can not be dis- 
persed by the use of fleshly weapons. 2 Cor. 10 : 2-5. 
They creep into the conscience and the will without a 
warning footfall. Into the very sanctuary of thought 
and prayer. The highest, most heavenly places are the 
very places where the fiercest battles are fought against 



200 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



these the most subtle of foes. It is not persecution 
of the flesh that Paul has in mind, but the apostasy 
of the spirit. 

The Christian is against the very power that grants 
license or permission for evil-doing upon the foot- 
stool of the Almighty. The devil is the author of all 
license for sinning upon earth. Evil doings are 
under the leadership of evil spirits. "Wicked spirits, 
hosts of them, are to be fought in the heavenly places. 
In the saloon, the brothel, the foul dives, and in the 
dens of immorality, we find wicked spirits in abun- 
dance, but who is so far bereft of reason as to call these 
heavenly places? In Christian society is where these 
spirits are to be fought. In the pulpit and pew, at 
home and in the social gatherings. 

There is the "wicked tattling spirit." This foul- 
mouthed monster has done very much mischief in the 
religious realm by stirring up brethren against breth- 
ren. We must fight him. There is that black-hearted, 
evil-tongued slandering spirit. He is the murderer 
sent forth to slay the good name of the virtuous. His 
tongue is a venomous shaft operated by the infernal 
machine of malice, and causes deeper wounds than 
lead or cold steel. Slander is the ladle that stirs up 
the fumes of the lowest pit. We must fight him to the 
death. 

The wicked spirit of pride must be felled. He has 
his hands stained with innocent blood. Many who 
could have stood before the artillery of earth have 
fallen before this awful power. Pride and fashion 
can not be accounted for on any other ground than 
the "mystery of iniquity." To follow the fashion 
and pride of the world is to follow the wildest and 
most senseless frenzy that ever cursed the earth. 



OF TEE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 201 



The wicked spirit of fear hides behind the pulpit 
and keeps the minister from saying what the people 
really need. The old story of the gospel that cuts off 
sin offends the spirit of the present sinful age as it 
has done in ages gone by. The minister fears to tell 
it all. The layman fears to hold up the hands of the 
minister who does dare to tell the simple saving truth. 

There is the wicked spirit of levity that seeks the 
cushioned pew and frowns unless the minister speaks 
those things which will tickle the ears that itch. 
See 2 Tim. 4 : 3. 

The wicked spirit of greed has run the world 
money-mad. The religious world has caught the mania. 
The professed Church is run almost wholly upon the 
basis of commercialism. Everything connected with 
the religious life is run on the money basis. The 
church which may raise the most money is the greatest 
church. Such a preacher is the "greatest man among 
us." This is the spirit of idolatry and is one of the 
most ruinous spirits in the high places of the Church's 
power. To fight this demon is the Church's duty. 
"Will she do it? Will she warn the rich and covetous 
sinner within her circle? " Being strong in the power 
of God's might we can overcome them all." 

When the Church rights itself with God and His 
truth, and slays the "host of wicked spirits" within 
her border, the saloon question with all phases of the 
temperance problem, and all general evils of society 
or government, will be easily disposed of. 0, that 
the Church would now turn her artillery upon the 
traitors in camp ! Then would she not be betrayed 
into the hands of the world's policy. 

Verse 13. — Wlierefore — on this account. 

Whole armour— same with Verse 11. 



202 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



Able — same with Verse 11. 

Withstand — anthistemi — to set or place against. 

Evil day— "day" same with Chap. 4:30. Evil- 
same with Chap. 5 : 16. 

Done all — " carried the struggle through/' — Twen- 
tieth Century New Testament. " Having overthrown 
them all." — Conybeare and Howson. 

Stand — same with Verse 11. 

Christians are to take, not make, the armor. God 
has provided the only proof against Satan ; take it. 

"The evil day" means the day of special tempta- 
tion, special conflict. Cromwell wore a coat of mail 
under his dress garment, whether in battle or in the 
social circle, for he never knew when the dagger would 
be thrust at his heart. 

Verse 14. — Stand — same with Verse 11. 

Therefore — then, because of this necessity. 

Your loins — osphus — lower part of the back. 

Girt — perizonnumi — to gird round about. 

With truth — same with Chap. 1 : 13. 

Breast-plate — Thoras — covering for the breast; the 
whole fore part of the body. Double-plated cuirass. 

Of righteousness — same with Chap. 4 : 24. 

Righteousness is joined with truth. The double- 
plated breast-plate, righteousness in work, truth in 
words. Faith towords God and love towords man. This 
is the only breast-plate that can turn the darts of 
the devil. 

"Stand." The lamp of God in the Tabernacle was 
to "burn always." Ex. 27 : 20; 30: 8. 

The real battle is ever to be within. Keep thy soul- 
light burning lest the enemy creep in unawares. 

He who is surrounded by the girdle of truth need 
never fear. He is held up from every side. It is the 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 203 

spiritual man's support. It holds close to the person 
every other grace he has put on. 

The double-plated breast-plate preserves the heart 
from the fire-pointed darts of passion. 

Verse 15. — Feet shod — hupodeomai — firm foothold. 

The preparation — hetoimasia — state of readiness. 
To have in readiness, at once and without hesitation; 
to be ready always. "As ready messengers. " Conybeare 
and How son. 

Gospel — same with Chap. 1 : 13. 

Of peace — same with Chap. 1 : 2. 

"Shod (your) feet with a readiness of the joyful 
message of peace." — Rotherham. 

Gospel of peace. What a contrast to the raging, 
warring world without the realm of God's love. 

Feet shod. This term includes the legs also. As one 
meaning of the word is "To entreat in suppliant pos- 
ture," we take it that the worship of and prayer to 
God, is the right attitude, the only way one may always 
be ready to meet the devil. 

"A prepared peace." "Blessed are the peace- 
makers." The only sure way to have peace is ever to 
be ready for war against the hosts of sin. 

Where sunbeams break darkness must flee. The 
spirit of right has always run through the course of 
human history. Murder, parallel with peace has been 
burning through the race. For many centuries the 
gospel of peace and the demon of war have ridden 
side by side. One must ultimately conquer. Which one 
will it be ? 

Verse 16. — Above all — over all others; to cover. 
Shield — thureos — large oblong shield, 4V 2 feet long 
by 2% feet wide. 

Wherewith — with which; by it. 



204 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



Able — same with Verse 11. 

Quench — shennumi — to put out; to stay; to quell. 

Fiery — puroomai — to set on fire. 

Darts — belos — a missile; an arrow. 

The wicked — poneros — bad one ; malignant one ; 
miserable one. Same with "evil" in Chap. 5:16; 
Verse 13. It is rendered "evil" forty-seven times, and 
"bad" once, Matt. 22: 10. "Flaming darts of evil."— 
Twentieth Century New Testament. 

Over all the virtues of the Christian life must be 
held the "great shield" of faith, or faithfulness, which 
only may stop the fiery-tipped arrows of hell. The 
shield carried by the Romans was long, and rounded 
the shape of the body. When joined together these 
formed a wall behind which an army could hide from the 
flaming darts of the enemy. It has been well said, 
"A Christian, like the Spartan, is born a warrior. It 
is his destiny to be assaulted; it is his duty to attack." 
The shield was to protect every part of the body. 
Faithfulness alone can do that for the Christian. 

Verse 17. — Helmet — perikephalaia — a covering for 
the head. 

Salvation— soterion — safety ; soundness. 

The sword — machaira — a fighting weapon. A large 
knife or dirk; a short sword; a dagger. 

The Spirit — same with Chap. 1:13. 

Word of God — same with Chap. 5 : 26. 

"A head-dress of soundness." Nothing is more 
characteristic of the true Christian than the soundness 
of mind with which he considers and presents truth 
for the good of men. See Chap. 1:8, for "good 
sense." See 2 Tim. 1:7. 

"Take" in this text differs from "take up" of 
Verses 13, 16. It is to accept that offered by an- 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 



205 



other. As the Thessalonians accepted the "Word from 
Paul, 1 Thess. 1:6. The warrior's head rising above 
the shield is frequently exposed to attack. An arrow 
might fly over the shield and inflict a mortal wound. 
Our faith at its best has its deficiencies, its limits. 
God's salvation reaches beyond our highest confidence 
in Him. His overshadowing presence is the crown 
of our salvation. His love is its shining crest. The 
Word of God is the only fighting weapon to be used 
This slays every dogmatic principle and drives before 
its sharpness every human invention that would legis- 
late in the face of divine truth. Heb. 4 : 12. " Sword 
of the Spirit which is God's truth." — Twentieth Cen- 
tury New Testament. "Sword of the Spirit which is 
what God has spoken." — Roth. See Rev. 1: 16. 

If we could handle the sword of Alexander the 
Grecian, of Julius Caesar, of Cromwell, of Washington, 
would we not meditate upon the mighty battles they 
had fought? Would we not think of the plains of 
Marathon, of Rome, of Marston Moor, and of Valley 
Forge? But the Sword of the Spirit is greater than 
all other swords. What has it done? Ask the enemy, 
the devil, what it has done in his dominion. If he 
could tell the truth you would know what it has done. 
Its deeds of valor and blood upon the great battle 
fields of earth will bring all nations to its praise. 
Rev. 11 : 15. This is the only sword that pierces the 
spiritual heart. Acts. 2 : 37. 

Verse 18. — Praying — proseuchomai — to wish for; 
ask for. See Luke 1:10; 10:2; 5:3; 6:12; 20:47. 
Compare with Chap. 1 . 16. 

All prayer — same with Chap. 1:16. Every kind; 
all times; a pouring out. 



206 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



Supplication — deesis— entreaty ; asking earnestly 
for one's self or for another. 

Prayer ' ' in the Spirit. ' ' See Rom. 8 : 26, 27. 

Watching — hagrupneo — to keep guard; to be wake- 
ful. Same with Mark 13:33; Luke 21:36; Heb. 
13:17. See Rev. 16:15. Compare with Luke 6:7; 
2:8. 

A perpetual watch was had in the Temple of God. 
Luke 2:37. 

Thereunto — with a view to prayer and supplica- 
tion. 

With — en — in. 

Perseverance — proskarteresis — enduring constancy. 

Supplication — same with "above" in same verse. 

All saints — same with Chap. 1:1. 

Prayer is the safeguard against evils at all times. 
Christians find need of prayer in all of their under- 
takings. Prayer is reverent address to God. Sup- 
plication is the entreaty for such help as is specially 
needed in special emergencies. The heart pours out 
thanksgiving to God for His mercy and entreats Him 
to fill it with grace. Christians are to "keep guard" 
over their spirit of prayer that it flee not from them. 
This necessitates an enduring constancy. Supplication 
for "all Christians" is universal intercession. All 
sectarian divisions must fall before the throne of 
grace. "A swan can not do its best in the air, nor an 
eagle in the water." Neither may the heart find 
its power of prayer except "in the Spirit." See 
Jude 20. 

"Always" means more than stated times for 
prayer, as morning, noon, or night. It means a mind for 
prayer. A duty and privilege of communing with 
God. Prayer is not here made a part of the Chris- 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 207 

tian's equipment. It is the life and strength, the 
very safeguard of the whole. Take your sword and 
pray. Adjust your helmet and pray. Buckle on 
your breastplate and pray. Have your feet shod and 
pray. It is not a weapon to be used. It is the strength 
by which each and every weapon is wielded. All the 
armor without this will never bring a single victory. 
On the basis of love the entire scheme of Redemption 
is predicated. The Son as a ransom is proof of God's 
love. On the commandment that we love God above 
all and our fellowman as if he were ourself, hangs 
all the law and the prophets. Why? Because love 
ever seeks to be in communion with the objects of its 
affections. Prayer is that earnest and sincere desire, 
born of love, to commune with God. To him who 
loveth not, prayer is but the husk of the fruit, and 
as unavailing as one that beateth the air. But to the 
soul that loveth, it is the unfailing source of joy and 
peace coupled with the consciousness of being molded by 
its sacred influence into a more and more Christlike- 
ness. From the depths of the farthest antiquity, down 
through all generations, amid all classes and races, the 
command "to pray" was heard. Although erroneous 
sometimes were the conceptions as to the nature of the 
being to whom prayer was offered. When Moses con- 
versed with God, his face shone with inexpressible 
glory. It has ever been the same. Men who com- 
mune with God come to be more and more like him 
in nature. Man being largely dependent upon en- 
vironment for culture and refinement, it is obvious 
that he should seek through prayer, the gentleness, 
compassion, purity, and goodness of God, with whom 
these virtues are limitless. "To know'' — to become ac- 
quainted with God — "is eternal life." Jesus says, 



208 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



"Pray always." Paul, "without ceasing." Christ 
was often in prayer. "Whole nights He spent with the 
Father. When the multitude sought to take Him by 
force and make Him king, he sought communion with 
the Father against the temptation. When about to 
be taken by wicked hands and slain, we find Him in 
the Garden praying for help that He might bow in 
humble submission to the Father's will. In the primi- 
tive Church they, when persecuted, prayed for bold- 
ness to speak the Word faithfully. When Luther was 
summoned to appear before the Diet of Worms, and 
was asked what he intended to do; his answer was, 
"Give me an hour for prayer." Oh, what strength 
was given in that hour! All great men of all times 
have been men of prayer. Often alone with God, and 
the sacred silence of our own thoughts, with intense 
earnestness we desire to know more of Him. When 
our thoughts are beyond our expression, we enter that 
blissful felicity, because He understands our longings. 
Here we learn the secrets of His presence. Pray as 
did Jesus, "Who in the days of His flesh offered up 
prayers and supplications, with strong crying and 
tears. ' ' Heb. 5 : 7. Steal, often, away from the noisy 
world and its cares for the quiet solitude for an hour 
with God. "Where your treasure is, there will your 
heart be." If with God, you will ever be seeking 
His presence. Pray always if you would not faint. 

Verse 19. — For me — on my behalf. 

Utterance — logos — same with ' ' word, ' ' Chap. 1:13; 
5:6. 

Boldly — parrhesia — free utterance. 

Make known the mystery. Same with Chap. 1 : 9. 

The gospel — same with Chap. 1 : 13. 

"On my behalf also, that when I begin to speak, 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIAXS. 209 



words may be given me, so I may courageously make 
known the secret truths of the Good News." — Twen- 
tieth Century New Testament. 

"To open my mouth and make known with bold- 
ness the mystery of the glad tidings." — Conybeare and 
H oxc son. 

"''That to me may be given discourse in an opening 
of my mouth,, with freedom of utterance to make known 
the mystery of the joyful message." — Roth. 

Paul knew enough of the power of prayer to know 
that the people of God, through prayer, could help 
him preach the gospel, not only in giving him some- 
thing to say, but also in giving him a chance to freely 
declare it unto the people. The minister's failure is 
more often the result of the neglect of prayer on the 
part of the Church than it is in carelessness or failure 
on his own part. "The shortest road to any heart is 
round by heaven." 

Verse 20. — For which — same with "for me," in 
Verse 19. "On behalf of which.'' 

Ambassador — presoeuo — elder; senior. To place 
first in rank. To prepare negotiations. 

In bonds — halusis — what is unloosed; a chain. 
Compare with Chap. 4:3: 6:8. This is in the sin- 
gular. 

Speak boldly — parrhesiazomai — to use free utter- 
ance. Compare with Verse 19. 

As I ought — dei — as it behooveth me. Compare 
with Chap. 5 : 28. 

Speak — same with Chap. 4:25. 

It was a law of the nations that an ambassador 
should be held inviolable. Such could not, without an 
outrage to every right, be put in chains. In Acts 
26:29, the term "bonds" is plural in the original. 

14 



210 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



It implies that his feet and hands were bound to- 
gether. Here it is singular as Acts 28 : 16, 20. As 
when a prisoner is bound to a soldier with a chain. 
He who was sent to negotiate peace and freedom for 
men, was himself placed in a chain. But God will 
make even the wrath of man to praise Him. Psalms 
76 : 10. So the things which happened to Paul were 
for the furtherance — prokope — an advance, forward 
move, of the gospel. Phil. 1 : 12. 

Verse 21. — That ye also — ye as well as others. See 
Col. 4:7-8. 

May know — same with Chap. 1 : 18. 

My affairs — fa kata — the things concerning me. 

How I do — prasso — what I practice; what I am 
affecting; what I am doing; how I fare. 

Tychicus — tuchikos — fortunate. A believer in Asia 
Minor who accompanied Paul to Jerusalem, when he 
left Greece, and was sent by him first to the churches 
of the Ephesians and the Collossians. He carried the 
first letter to Timothy. Paul calls him his "dear 
brother, a faithful minister of the Lord, and his com- 
panion in the service of God." Col. 4:7-8. Paul 
thought also of sending him to Crete to care for that 
church during the absence of Titus. Tit. 3 : 12. To- 
gether with Onesimus he was doubtless the bearer of 
the letter to the Collossians and that to Philemon. 
In 2 Tim. 4: 12, during Paul's second imprisonment he 
says, "I am herewith sending Tychicus to Ephesus." 
See Acts 20:4. The Greeks held that he was one 
of the seventy. Tychicus and Trophimus were closely 
related to each other, as well as to Paul, in their work. 
See Acts 21 : 29 ; 20 : 15, 38. They were probably the 
two brethren, and messengers, who were associated with 
Titus. 2 Cor. 8 : 16-24. Messenger — apostolos — same 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPEESIA2s~S, 211 



with "apostle" in Chap. 1:1. Same with "mes- 
senger" in Phil. 2:25. They were apostles. 

Beloved— agapetos— dearly beloved ; one dearly 
loved. Same with "dearly beloved," in 2 Tim. 1:2; 
Phil. 4:1; 1 Pet. 2:11. 

Brother — adelphos — of the same womb ; a relative. 

Faithful— steady. Same with Chap. 1 : 1. 

Minister— same with Chap. 3:7. Compare with 
Chap. 4:29. 

In the Lord — in the Lord's work. 

Make known — same with verse 19. 

All things— same with Chap. 5 : 13. All things con- 
cerning the affairs of Paul. ""Will tell you everything 
about me." 

Verse 22. — "Whom I have sent unto you for this 
very purpose. ' ' — Rotherham. 

"I am sending him to you on purpose that you 
may learn all about us, and that he may cheer your 
hearts." — Twentieth Century New Testament. 

"I have sent him to you for this very end, that 
you may learn what concerns me." — Conybeare and 
Eowson. 

Our affairs— ta peri — the things concerning us. 
Same with Phil. 1 : 27. In 2 Tim. 2:4, it is pragmateia 
— a business matter. 

Comfort — parakaleo — to call alongside of; a help. 
"Advocate," in 1 John 2:1, is parakletos — one called 
alongside of to help. Same with "Comforter" in John 
14 : 26 ; 15 : 26 ; 16 : 7. Compare with Luke 8 : 48 ; 16 : 25. 

Your hearts — same with Chap. 3 : 17. 

Verse 23. — Peace — same with Chap. 1 : 2. 

The brethren — same with Verse 10. 

Love — same with Chap. 1 : 4. Compare with 
Chap. 2:4. 



212 



BEAUTIFUL WORD PICTURES 



With faith — same with Chap. 1 : 15. Compare with 
Chap. 1:1. 

"May God, the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ 
give our brothers peace and love, and faith as well." — 
Twentieth Century New Testament. 

Waters are rocked in the cradle of the deep where 
no tempest ever sweeps or stirs it. The sky is ever 
blue where no clouds or storms ever darken. The soul 
filled with Christ, and a love for His truth which 
gives a passion for souls, will never heed the raging 
tempest nor see an intervening cloud. 

"Love with faith" must ever be the watchword of 
all pure hearts. See Chap. 4 : 15. 

Verse 24. — Grace — same with Chap. 1 : 2. 

Sincerity — aphtharsia — incorruption. Same with 
Titus 2:7. Same with "immortality," Rom. 2:7; 2 
Tim. 1:10. Same with "incorruption," 1 Qor. 15:42, 
52, 53, 54. 

"May God's blessing be with all whose love for 
Jesus Christ, our Lord, never fails." — Twentieth Cen- 
tury New Testament. 

Amen — is not in the original. 

Love is the truest principle of society because it 
alone enables man to turn the truth to the benefit of 
all men. Love must be greater than doctrine or creed. 

Though the sun of hope at times seems to act as 
the young and gay in the house of mourning, uneasy 
and in haste to depart; though he be fleeing a creation 
of darkness and distress; though the flowery families 
lie dead and the tuneful tribes struck dumb; though 
the trees stripped of their beauty and lashed by wintry 
blasts, reach upward with their naked arms into an 
enraged and restless heaven; though fragrance floats 



OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 



213 



no longer in the air, and the chilly and cutting gales 
blow; with all this, "God hVes and all is well." 

During some golden hour of a cloudless sky, sitting 
or straying upon some heavenly hill, or basking in the 
silver tints of love's own gleams reflected from life's 
swiftly passing river; as we look out upon the far- 
stretching plains which meet the horizon of immortality ; 
among the tented hosts of love's redeemed ones; love's 
true vision will be the first our glorified spirit shall 
behold. 

As we mark the last shadow of an angel's flight 
across the bright mirror of this earthly life, love will 
then speak a spirit's true devotion. 

When in the evening of life the golden clouds rest 
sweetly and invitingly upon the golden-tipped moun- 
tains, and the light of immortality streams down 
through the gathering mists of death's chilly vale, 
we shall find a peaceful and abundant entrance into 
that world of blessedness, where the great riddle of 
life will be unfolded in the quick consciousness of a 
soul redeemed and purified. 

Love grows holier as the hours fly away. In clouds 
and sunshine ever the same. May our lives be such 
that in the evening of a happy life, as one by one 
we pass to the everlasting meadows of flowers and 
beauty, the golden hues from a love-lit soul will send 
back their beams stretching a bow of blessedness across 
the bosom of the darkest cloud the remaining ones 
may ever know. Lovingly and faithfully we work, 
and trustingly we await that day. 



NOTICE! 



To the Readers of This Volume : — This is the first 
of a series of volumes I expect to put out, the Lord will- 
ing. I intend to put forth each book of the New Testa- 
ment as I am able to do so. If this proves helpful to you 
and you would wish to have other volumes when issued, 
please write me your mind regarding the matter and I 
will count you among those who wish to support this 
great work of making the Truth so simple that it can 
not be misunderstood. Your name will be held on file 
and you will be notified as other volumes are issued. 
Write me your thought of the work if you Would wish 
others to share its blessings also. Address 

W. A. Haynes, 
Caney, Kansas. 

All orders should be addressed to The Busy Man's 
Bible Company, Caney, Kansas. 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: July 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724) 779-21 1 1 



v4 




One copy del. to Cat. Div. 

MAft 9 * 9n 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 502 886 3 



